


The Family Business is Back

by Castiel_Novak_79



Series: Hunters Series [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:47:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 121,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29539140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castiel_Novak_79/pseuds/Castiel_Novak_79
Summary: This book focuses on siblings Andrew and Averie Walker as they track down their father, Ethan, who is on the trail of the demon who killed their mother and Andrew's girlfriend. During their travels, they use their father's journal to help them carry on the family business-saving people and hunting supernatural creatures.
Series: Hunters Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2170158





	1. Prologue

~Lawerence, Kansas. 1983~

A woman, Madison Walker, wearing a white nightgown, carries a small child, her daughter Averie, into a dark room. "Come on, let's say good night to your brother." she turns on the lights: it's the nursery of a baby, Andrew, who is lying in his crib and looking over at them. She sets her down, Averie leans over the side of the crib and kisses him on the forehead "Night Andy." Madison looks down at him "Goodnight love." she pushes his hair back and kisses his forehead. "Hey Averie." a man, Ethan Walker, is standing in the doorway "Daddy!" she runs over to him and he picks her up "So what do you think? You think Andy's ready to toss around a football yet?" she smiles and laughs "No." Madison passes them on her way out of the room "You got her?" "I've got her." He smiles "Sweet dreams, Andrew." Ethan carries Averie out of the room, flipping off the lights. Andrew watches them go, gurgling, then tries to reach his toes, the baseball-themed mobile above his crib begins to spin on its own while he watches. The transportation-themed clock on the wall ticks, ticks, then stops. The moon-shaped nightlight flickers.

Lights flicker on a baby monitor sitting on a nightstand next to a photo of Madison and Ethan. Strange noises come through the monitor. Madison, asleep in bed, stirs. She turns on the light on the nightstand "Ethan?" she's alone, she gets up and walks down the hall to Andrew's nursery. Ethan, only seen in a silhouette is standing above the crib "Ethan, is he hungry?" "Shhh." "All right." she walks down the stairs and sees Ethan fell asleep watching a war movie, she realizes the man in Andrew's nursery isn't him and runs back upstairs "Andrew! Andrew!" Upstairs, Madison screams, Ethan wakes up "Madison?" he runs upstairs and goes into the nursery. The room is quiet and appears empty except for Andrew awake in his crib and Ethan. He glances around and pushes down the side of Andrew's crib "Hey Andy, you okay?" Something dark drips next to Andrew. Ethan touches it. Two more drops land on the back of his hand, It looks like blood. He looks up, Madison is sprawled across the ceiling, the stomach of her nightgown red with blood, staring at him and struggling to breathe. Ethan collapses onto the floor, staring at her "Madison, No!" she bursts into flame. The fire spreads over the ceiling, he stares, frozen. Andrew wails, reminded he's not alone, he gets up and scoops him out of the crib, and rushes out of the room. Averie walks down the hall "Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now, Averie, go!"

Averie runs outside, holding Andrew "It's okay, Andy." Ethan runs outside, scoops up Averie and Andrew, and carries them both away "You're okay, I've gotcha." A firefighter goes to the back of the truck and takes a hose from a second firefighter. That firefighter takes the hose towards the house where a third firefighter is spraying through Andrew's nursery window. A paramedic opens the back of an ambulance, a police officer waves some neighbors back. Across the street Ethan sits on the Impala's hood, Averie sits next to him crying. He puts a arm around her "We'll be okay." he looks up at the burnt house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically Supernatural but with my characters


	2. Centennial Highway Hitchhiker

~22 years later, October 31st. 2005~

Andrew and Hannah lay in bed next to each other, a window clicks open, Andrew opens his eyes and gets up. He leaves the bedroom and looks around the apartment's living room, a window is open which was closed earlier, A woman walks past the strings of beads at the far end of the hall, He moves to another part of the apartment and waits. The woman enters the room. He lunges forward and grabs her at the shoulder. She knocks Andrew's arm away and aims a strike at him, who ducks. She grabs his arm, swings him around, and shoves him back. Andrew kicks and is blocked, then pushed back into another room. If she hadn't seen Andrew's face before, she sees it now; he gets his first glimpse of the woman. She elbows him in the face; he kicks at her head. She ducks and swings and he blocks. She knocks Andrew down and pins him to the floor, one hand at his neck and the other holding his wrist. "Whoa, easy, tiger." the woman says smiling "Averie?" she laughs "You scared the crap out of me!" "That's 'cause you're out of practice." They stand up, Andrew grabs Averie's hand and yanks, slamming his heel into her back and onto the floor. "or not." he taps her twice where he is holding her "Okay, get off of me." he rolls to his feet and helps her up. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" "Well, I was looking for a beer." Averie puts her hands on Andrew's shoulders and lets go after a minute "Okay. All right. We gotta talk." "Uh, the phone..?" "If I'd'a called, would you have picked up?" Hannah turns on the light, she is wearing very short shorts and a cropped Smurfs shirt "Andy?" Averie and Andrew turn their heads in union "Hannah, Hey, Averie this is my girlfriend, Hannah." Averie looks at her appreciatively. "Wait, your Sister, Averie?" Andrew nods, Hannah smiles as Averie moves closer "You know, I gotta tell you. You are completely out of my brother's league." "I'll be right back, Just let me put something on." "No, no, no, I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously." 

Averie goes back over to Andrew without taking her eyes off Hannah, Andrew watches her, his expression stony. "Anyway, I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business. But, uh, nice meeting you." "No," he walks over to Hannah and puts his arm around her "whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her." "Um. Dad hasn't been home in a few days." "So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Averie looks at the ground then back to Hannah and Andrew "Dad's on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days." his expression doesn't change as he takes it in, Hannah looks up at him with a confused look "Hannah, excuse us. We have to go outside." 

~~

They walk downstairs "I mean, come on. You can't just break in, middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you." "You're not hearing me Andy, Dad's missing, I need you to help me find him." "You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine." Averie stops and turns around, Andrew stops too "Not for this long. Now are you gonna come with me or not?" "I'm not." "Why not?" "I swore I was done hunting. For good." "Come on. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad." Averie starts walking downstairs again, Andrew waits a minute before following "Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45." She stops at the door to the parking lot "Well, what was he supposed to do?" "I was nine years old! He was supposed to say, don't be afraid of the dark." she scoffs "Don't be afraid of the dark? Are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there." "Yeah, I know, but still. The way we grew up, after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her. But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find." "We save a lot of people doing it, too." "You think Mom would have wanted this for us?"

~~

Averie pushes the door open and steps out, as they walk up the few steps Andrew starts talking again "The weapon training, and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Av, we were raised like warriors." she ignores him as they walk to the car "So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it?" she snaps back "No. Not normal. Safe." "And that's why you ran away." "I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing." "Yeah, well, Dad's in real trouble right now. If he's not dead already. I can feel it." Andrew goes silent for a few minutes, Averie looks at him "I can't do this alone." "Yes, you can." she looks at the ground and almost whispers "Yeah, well, I don't want to." he sighs and looks around thinking "What was he hunting?" she opens the trunk of the Impala, then the spare-tire compartment, It's an arsenal, she props the compartment open with a shotgun and digs through the clutter. "All right, where in the hell did I put that thing?" "So when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?" "I was working my own gig. This, uh, voodoo thing, down in New Orleans." "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" "I'm twenty six dude." 

She pulls some papers out of a folder "All right, here we go. So Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy." he takes the paper "They found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA." The paper is a printout of an article from the Jericho Herald, headlined "Centennial Highway Disappearance" and dated Sept. 19th 2005; it has a man's picture, captioned **Andrew Carey MISSING**. Andrew reads it and glances up. "So maybe he was kidnapped." "Yeah. Well, here's another one in April." "Another one in December 04', '03, '98, '92, ten of them over the past twenty years." she takes the paper from him and reorganizes the pile of papers. "All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road." Averie says pulling a bag out of the trunk "It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough." 

She pulls out a tape recorder "Then I get this voicemail yesterday." she presses play. The recording is staticky and the signal was clearly breaking up. "Averie...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may... Be very careful, Averie. We're all in danger." she presses pause "You know there's EVP on that?" "Not bad Andy, kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?" he shakes his head "All right. I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got." she presses play again "I can never go home..." "Never go home?" Andrew repeats to himself. Averie drops the recorder, puts down the shotgun, stands straight, and shuts the trunk, then leans on it. "You know, in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing." Andrew looks away and sighs, then looks back. "All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him." Averie smiles and nods "But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here." as he turns to leave she stops him "What's first thing Monday?" "I have this...I have an interview." "What, a job interview? Skip it." "It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate." "Law school?" "So we got a deal or not?" she nods and he heads back into the Apartment building.

~~

Andrew packs a bag, he grabs a hook shaped knife and slides it into the bag, Hannah walks into the room "Wait, you're taking off?" he looks over at her "Is this about your dad? Is he all right?" "Yeah. You know, just a little family drama." he pulls some clothes out of the dresser "Your sister said he was on some kind of hunting trip." "Oh, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin, he's probably got Jim, Jack, and José along with him. I'm just going to go bring him back." "What about the interview?" "I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple days." he walks to the nightstand and takes something out of the drawer, she walks over to him and holds his one hand "I mean, please. Just stop for a second. You sure you're okay?" "I'm fine." "It's just...you won't even talk about your family. And now you're taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them? And with Monday coming up, which is kind of a huge deal." "Hey. Everything's going to be okay. I will be back in time, I promise." he kisses her cheek and grabs the bag before leaving.

~~

A man is driving down the Centennial Highway, he's on the phone and doesn't notice the radio flickering, "Amy, I can't come over tonight. Because I've got work in the morning, that's why. Yeah, okay, I miss it and my dad's gonna have my ass." there is a high pitch whine. He looks over and sees a woman in a white dress on the side of the road. She's moving as though dancing; she flickers, and for a moment she's gone. "Hey, ah, Amy, let me call you back?" he tries several times to turn off the radio, which is flickering, Nothing happens. He pulls up next to the woman, whose dress is torn in several places, and stops, leaning across the shotgun seat "Car trouble or something?" "Take me home?" the woman's voice is the same from the voicemail "Sure, get in." she climbs in and shuts the door. "So, where do you live?" "At the end of Breckenridge Road." "You coming from a Halloween party or something?" The woman's dress is very low-cut. He notices, stares, and looks away, laughing nervously.

"You know, a girl like you really shouldn't be alone out here." She looks at him mournfully, seductively, and pulls her skirt up over her thigh, "I'm with you." he looks away she takes his chin and turns his face towards her. "Do you think I'm pretty?" he nods, eyes stuck on her cleavage "Uh huh." "Will you come home with me?" "Um, hell yeah." They pull up to an old abandoned house at the end of a road, she stares at it sadly. "Come on. You don't live here." "I can never go home." "What are you talking about? Nobody even lives here. Where do you live?" He turns, and she's gone. He checks the back seat, also empty, and gets out of the car, nervous. "That's good. Joke's over, okay? You want me to leave?" he looks around: no signs of life except crickets. He walks towards the house.

"Hello? Hello?" There's a picture of the woman and two children inside the house; the picture is covered in dust. He peers through the hole in the screen door. A bird flies at his face, scaring him into falling over. He yells, leaps to his feet, and runs back to the car. He gets in and drives off. He looks behind him—no one's there—then in the rearview mirror. She is in the back seat. he yells again and drives straight through a "Bridge Closed" sign, stopping about halfway across the bridge, He screams, and Blood spatters the windows.

~~

The Impala is parked in front of a pump, it's morning now. Averie comes out of the convenience mart carrying junk food, Andrew is sitting in the shotgun seat with the door open, rifling through a box of tapes. "Hey, you want breakfast?" he leans out of the door "No thanks. So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?" "Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career." she puts the nozzle back on the pump. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards." "Yeah? And what names did you write on the application this time?" he swings his legs back inside the car and closes the door, "Burt Aframian." she gets into the driver's seat and sets her soda and chips down "And his daughter Hela. Scored two cards out of the deal." "That sounds about right. I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection." 

There are at least a dozen cassettes in the box on his lap; some have album art, others are hand-labeled. "Why?" "Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two, Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." she takes the box labeled Metallica from him. "Well, house rules, Andy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole." she drops the Metallica box back in the box of tapes and starts the engine, Back in Black starts playing. "You know, Andy is a chubby twelve-year-old. It's Andrew, okay?" "Sorry, I can't hear you, the music's too loud." she says turning the music up.

~~

They drive past a sign that says **JERICHO 7** , Andrewis talking on his cell phone "Thank you." he closes his phone and looks at Averie "All right. So, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue. So that's something, I guess." she glances over at him, then back at the road. At a bridge ahead of them, there are two police cars and several officers. "Hey, check it out." he looks ahead at all of the officers, DEAN pulls over. They take a long look before she turns off the engine. Averie opens the glove compartment and pulls out a box full of ID cards with her and Ethan's faces: visible ones include FBI and DEA. She picks one out and grins at Andrew, who rolls his eyes. "Let's go." she gets out of the car and starts heading to the bridge. 

On the bridge, the lead deputy, deputy Jaffe, leans over the railing to yell down to two men in wetsuits who were poking around the river. "You guys find anything?" "No! Nothing!" Jaffe turns back to the car in the middle of the bridge. It's familiar, it's the man, Troy's, car the blood is gone. Another deputy, deputy Hein, is at the driver's side looking around inside the car. "No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean." Averie and Andrew walk onto the crime scene like they belong there "So, this kid Troy. He's dating your daughter, isn't he?" "Yeah." "How's Amy doing?" "She's putting up missing posters downtown." 

Averie clears her throat "You fellas had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" Jaffe looks up when Averie starts talking and straightens up to talk to her. "And who are you?" she flashes her badge "Federal Marshals." "You two are a little young for marshals, aren't you?" she laughs "Thanks, that's awfully kind of you." she heads over to Troy's car "You did have another one just like this, correct?" "Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road. There've been others before that." "So, this victim, you knew him?" Andrew asks, Jaffe nods "Town like this, everybody knows everybody." Averie walks around the car still inspecting it "Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?" "No. Not so far as we can tell." "So, what's the theory?" she walks back over to Andrew "Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?" 

She scoffs "Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys." Andrew steps on her foot "Thank you for your time." They walk away and Jaffe watch them leave, Averie smacks Andrew in the back of the head "Ow, What was that for?" "Why'd you have to step on my foot?" "Why do you have to talk to the police like that?" she looks at Andrew and moves in front of him, forcing him to stop walking. "Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves." he looks over her shoulder, she turns, It's Sheriff Pierce and two FBI Agents. "Can I help you two?" "No, sir, we were just leaving." As the FBI agents walk past Averie, she nods at each of them "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully." They head past the sheriff, who turns to watch them go.

~~

A young woman is tacking up posters with Troy's face and the caption **MISSING TROY SQUIRE.** Averie and Andrew walk up onto the sidewalk "I'll bet you that's her." Averie says "Yeah." They walk up to the woman "You must be Amy." Averie says "Yeah." "Yeah, Troy told us about you. We're his Aunt and Uncle. I'm Averie, this is Andy." "He never mentioned you to me." Amy walks away, they walk with her. "Well, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto." "So, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around." Andrew says. Another woman, Rachel, comes up to Amy and puts a hand on her arm "Hey, are you okay?" "Yeah." Andrew sighs and looks over at Averie "You mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Another poster that has Troy's picture on it blows in the breeze.

~~

The four of them are sitting in a booth, Averie and Andrew opposite Amy and Rachel, "I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and...he never did." "He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" Amy shakes her head "No, nothing I remember." "I like your necklace." Andrew looks at the pentagram "Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff." he laughs a little and looks down, Averie looks over. "Actually, it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing." "Okay. Thank you, Unsolved Mysteries." Averie says, she takes her arm off the back of his seat and leans forward "Here's the deal, ladies. The way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So if you've heard anything..." Amy and Rachel look at each other. "What is it?" "Well, it's just... I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk." "Talk about what?" "It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago." Averie looks at Andrew, who watches Rachel attentively, nodding. "Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever." they look at each other.

~~

A web browser is open to the archive search page for the _Jericho Herald_. The words _Female Murder Hitchhiking_ are typed into the search box, Averie clicks go; the screen tells her there are ( _0) Result_. She replaces _Hitchhiking_ with _Centennial Highway_ with the same response. Andrew is sitting next to her, watching "Let me try." Averie smacks his hand "I've got this." he shoves her chair out of the way and takes over "Dude!" she hits him in the shoulder "you are such a control freak!" "So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" "Yeah." "Well, maybe it's not murder." he replaces "Murder" with "Suicide" and finds an article entitled "Suicide on Centennial" she glares at him. Andrew opens the article, dated April 25, 1981.

_A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night. Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several [minutes]. She reported that their complex-[...]_

_"What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time."At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager. "Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew," said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. "She just doted on those children."_

"This was 1981. Constance Welch, twenty-four years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river." Andrew says, "Does it say why she did it?" "Yeah." "What?" "An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die." "Hm." "'Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch." "Does the bridge look familiar to you?"

~~

At night they walk along the bridge "So this is where Constance took the swan dive." Averie says leaning over to look at the river "So you think Dad would have been here?" "Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him." Andrew starts walking, Averie jogs to catch up "Okay, so now what?" "Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while." he stops "I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday—" she turns around "Monday. Right. The interview." "Yeah." "I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" "Maybe, why not?" "Does Hannah know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?" he steps closer sort of getting into her face "No, and she's not ever going to know." "Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Andy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are." she starts walking again, he waits a minute before walking "And who's that?" "You're one of us." 

Andrew hurries to get in front of Averie "No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life." "You have a responsibility to-" "To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back." Averie snaps and grabs him by the collar and shoves him up against the railing of the bridge. "Don't you ever talk like that about her again." she lets go of him and starts walking away, she sees Constance standing at the edge of the bridge. "Andy." he comes to stand next to her. Constance looks over at them, then steps forward off the edge. They run to the railing and look over "Where'd she go?" "I don't know." Behind them, the Impala's engine starts and its headlights come on. Andrew turns to look "What the fuck?" Averie mutters not noticing the Impala "Who's driving your car?" she backs up and turns pulling the keys out of her pocket, the car jerks into motion, heading straight for them, they turn and run. 

The car is moving faster than they are; when it gets too close, they dive over the railing, the car comes to a halt. Andrew has caught himself on the edge of the bridge and is hanging on, he pulls himself up onto the bridge and looks around "Averie?, Averie!" Below, a filthy and annoyed Averie crawls out of the water and onto the mud, panting "What?" "Hey! Are you all right?" "I'm super!" he laughs, relieved, and scoots away from the edge. Averie shuts the hood of her car and leans on it "Your car all right?" "Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a _bitch_!" "Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure. So where's the job go from here, genius?" he settles on the hood next to her. Averie throws up her arms in frustration, then flicks mud off her hands. He sniffs, then looks at her "You smell like a toilet." she glares at him "shut up."

~~

They stand in a motel room, a credit card in the name of Hela Aframian lands on a handwritten guest ledger. "One room please."she is standing at the motel check-in desk, still filthy, with Andrew right behind her. The clerk picks up the card and looks at it, "You guys having a reunion or something?" "What do you mean?" "I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month." Andrew sighs and looks at the wall. 

The motel door swings open after Andrew picks the lock, he hides the picks and stands up. Averie is just outside, playing lookout, until Andrew reaches out of the room, grabs her shoulder and yanks her inside. He closes the door behind them, They look around—every vertical surface has papers pinned to it: maps, newspaper clippings, pictures, notes. There are books on the desk and assorted junk on the floor and bed, including something with a hazardous-materials symbol. "Woah." Andrew says looking around, Averie turns on a light by the bed and picks up a half-eaten hamburger sitting there. He steps over a line of salt on the floor. She sniffs the burger and recoils. "I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least." "Salt, cats-eye shells...he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in." Averie looks at the papers pinned to the one wall, "What have you got here?" "Centennial Highway victims." he stands next to her and looks at the wall. "I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?" she asks 

While she talks, he looks at the papers taped to the other walls. There's something about the Bell Witch, two people being burned alive, a skeletal person blowing a horn at several scared people with the note Mortis Danse, a column about Devils + Demons, another about Sirens, Witches, the possessed, a wooden pentacle, and a note that says Woman in White above a printout of the JerichoHerald article on Constance's suicide. "Dad figured it out." "What do you mean?" "He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white." Averie looks at the photos of Constance's victims.

"You sly dogs. All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it." "She might have another weakness." "Well, Dad would want to make sure. He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?" "No, not that I can tell. If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband." Andrew taps the picture of Joseph Welch. The caption says he's thirty; the article dates to 1981, so he must be sixty-four. "If he's still alive." "All right. Why don't you, uh, see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up." she starts to walk away. Andrew turns "Hey, Averie." she stops and turns around "What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry." "No chick-flick moments." they both laugh slightly "All right. Jerk." "Bitch." Andrew laughs again. Averie disappears into the bathroom. Andrew notices something, his smile disappearing, and crosses over for a closer look. A rosary hangs in front of a large mirror, and stuck into the mirror frame is a photo of Ethan sitting on the hood of the Impala, next to a girl in a baseball cap, Averie, and with a little boy, Andrew, on Ethan's lap. He takes the photo off the mirror and holds it, smiling sadly. 

Andrew paces, holding his phone, and sits down on the bed. A voicemail message is playing. "Hey, it's me, it's about ten-twenty Saturday night-" Averie clean again, comes out of the bathroom and grabs her jacket. She slings it on one shoulder as she crosses the room. "Hey, man. I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?" "No." "Aframian's buying." he shakes his head. Averie leaves the motel room. She gets the jacket the rest of the way on as she crosses the lot. She looks over and sees a police car, where the motel clerk is talking to Deputy Jaffe and Deputy Hein, the clerk points at Averie, who turns away and pulls out her cell phone. Andrew is sitting on the bed, still listening to the message, "So come home soon, okay? I love you." the phone beeps. he looks at it and presses a button, then puts it back to his ear. "What?" "Dude, five-oh, take off." "What about you?" "Uh, they kinda spotted me. Go find Dad." 

She hangs up the phone as the deputies approach, she turns and grins at them, "Problem, officers?" "Where's your partner?" "Partner? What, what partner?" Jaffe glances over his shoulder and jerks his thumb towards the motel room, Hien heads over there. Averie fidgets slightly "So. Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?" "My boobs." he slams her onto the hood of the cop car "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

Sheriff Pierce enters the room, carrying a box. He sets the box on the table at which Averie sits, he sits across from her "So you want to give us your real name?" "I told you, it's Nugent. Jade Nugent." "I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here." "We talkin', like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or, uh, squeal like a pig trouble?" "You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall. Along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo. Kid, you are officially a suspect." "That makes sense. Because when the first one went missing in '82 I was three." "I know you've got partners. One of 'em's an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So tell me. Averie." "This his?" he tosses a leather journal onto the table. She stares at it, the sheriff sits on the edge of the table, He flips through the journal: it's filled with newspaper clippings, notes, and pictures, just like what's on the walls of Ethan's motel room. "I thought that might be your name. See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out—I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy." she tilts her head and leans forward to read it "But I found this, too." He opens the journal to a page that reads "AVERIE 35-111", circled, with nothing else on that page. "Now. You're stayin' right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means." she stares down at the page and looks at the sheriff and says nothing.

~~

Andrew knocks on a glass door, an old man opens it "Hello, are you Joseph Welch?" "Yeah." "Can I ask you a few questions?" he nods, Andrew shows him the picture from Ethan's motel room "did you see this man?" "Yeah, he was older, but that's him. He came by three or four days ago. Said he was a reporter." he hands the picture back to Andrew "That's right. We're working on a story together." "Well, I don't know what the hell kinda story you're working on. The questions he asked me?" "About your wife Constance?" "He asked me where she was buried." "And where is that again?" "What, I gotta go through this twice?" "It's fact-checking. If you don't mind." Joseph sighs "In a plot. Behind my old place over on Breckenridge." "And why did you move?" "I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died." "Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?" "No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known." "So you had a happy marriage?" "Definitely." "Well, that should do it. Thanks for your time." 

Andrew turns toward the Impala, then stops "Mr. Welch, did you ever hear of a woman in white?" "A what?" "A woman in white. Or sometimes weeping woman, It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really." "Boy, I don't care much for nonsense." "You understand. But all share the same story. when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them. And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children." Joseph glares at him, Andrew continues "Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again." "You think...you think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartass!" "You tell me." "I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!" Andrew leaves, he sits in the Impala for a moment.

~~

"I don't know how many times I gotta tell you. It's my high school locker combo." "We gonna do this all night long?" a deputy opens the door "We just got a 911, shots fired over at Whiteford Road." Sheriff Pierce nods and looks at Averie, he handcuffs her to the table and leaves. She sees a paper clip poking out of the journal, pulls it out, and looks at it. Moments later, as the sheriff and deputy are gearing up to leave, she is out of the cuffs. Averie watches through the window in the door, ducks out of sight as Sheriff Pierce approaches the door, and waits. After they leave she climbs down the fire escape, carrying Ethan's journal.

Andrew is driving the Impala when his phone rings, He pulls it out and answers it, Averie is in a phone booth; apparently her phone was confiscated and she didn't take the time to steal it back. "Fake 911 phone call? Andy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal." "You're welcome." "Listen, we gotta talk." "Tell me about it. So the husband _was_ unfaithful. We _are_ dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop." "Andy, would you shut up for a second?" "I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet." "Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone. Dad left Jericho." "What? How do you know?" "I've got his journal." "He doesn't go anywhere without that thing." "Yeah, well, he did this time." "What's it say?" "Ah, the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going." "Coordinates. Where to?" "I'm not sure yet." "I don't understand. I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?" Andrew looks up and slams the brake, dropping the phone: Constance appeared on the road in front of him, the car goes right through her as he brings it to a halt. "Andy? Andrew!" he looks into the rearview mirror, she's sitting in the back seat "Take me home?"

"Take me home!" "No." Constance glares and the doors lock themselves, Andrew struggles to reopen them. The gas pedal presses down and the car begins to drive itself, he tries to steer, but she is doing that too. He continues to try to get the door open, In the back seat, Constance flickers. The car stops infront of Constance's old home "Don't do this!" "I can never go home." "You're scared to go home." he looks back and she isn't there. He glances around and sees her in the passenger seat. She climbs into his lap, shoving him back against the seat hard enough to recline the seat "Hold me. I'm so cold." "You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful. I've never been!" "You will be. Just hold me." she kisses him as he continues to struggle, reaching for the keys. She pulls back and disappears, he looks around for a moment, then yells in pain and yanks his hoodie open to see that there are five new holes burned through the fabric, matching Constance's fingers: she flickers in front of him, her hand reaching into his chest. A gunshot goes off, shattering the window and startling her. Averie approaches, still firing at her, she glares at Averie and vanishes, then reappears, and she keeps firing until Constance disappears again. 

Andrew manages to sit up and start the car "I'll take you home." he mutters as he smashes through the side of the house. Averie hurries through the wreckage to the passenger side of the car, "Andy!, Andrew! you alright?" "I think..." "Can you move?" "Yeah, Help me?" she climbs through the window and helps him out of the car, Constance picks up a large framed photograph, it's the picture of her and her children. Andrew and Averie turn around, she glares at them and throws the picture down. A bureau scoots towards the two, pinning them against the car. The lights flicker; Constance looks around, scared. Water begins to pour down the staircase. She goes over, at the top are the kids from the photograph. They hold hands and speak in chorus "You've come home to us, Mommy." Suddenly they are behind her; they embrace her tightly and she screams, her image flickering. In a surge of energy, still screaming, her and the two kids melt into a puddle in the floor. They shove the bureau over and go look at the spot where Constance and her children vanished. "So this is where she drowned her kids." "That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them." "You found her weak spot. Nice work, Andy." she pats the spot on his chest where he had gotten hurt and walks away, he laughs Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?" "Hey. Saved your ass." she leans over to look at the car "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car? I'll kill you." he laughs and she smiles shaking her head.

~~

The Impala tears down the road; the right headlight is out, Andrew has the journal open to "Averie 35-111" and a map open on his lap and is finding coordinates with a ruler, a flashlight is tucked between his chin and shoulder. "Okay, here's where Dad went. It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado." "Sounds charming. How far?" "About 600 miles." "Hey, if we haul ass we could make it by morning." "Averie, I, um..." "You're not going, are you?" "The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there." she nods, disappointed, and returns her attention to the road. "Yeah. Yeah, whatever. I'll take you home." he turns off the flashlight and looks over at Averie "I'm sorry bu-" "Shut it, I already said I'll take you back."

~~

They pull up in front of the apartment, Averie still frowning, Andrew gets out and leans over to look through the window "Call me if you find him, And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?" "Yeah, all right." he walks away "Andy." he turns around "Yeah?" "You know, we made a hell of a team back there." "Yeah, we did." Averie drives off and he watches her leave. He opens the door, everything is dark and quiet "Hannah, you home?" he sees a plate of cookies on the kitchen counter with a note 'Missed you, Love Hannah' he grabs one before going into the bedroom. The shower is running, Andrew lays down on the bed and closes his eyes, he feels something drip onto his forehead. He opens his eyes and sees Hannah is pinned to the ceiling, staring down at him and bleeding from the stomach "No!" he yells crying, the front door is kicked open "Andy!" he falls to the floor as she bursts into flames "Hannah!" Averie comes running into the room "Andy, come on we have to go!" she looks up and sees Hannah. She grabs him by the shoulder and pushes him out the apartment as he tries to fight her "Hannah, No!" A fire truck is parked outside the building, firemen, and police keeping back gawkers. Averie looks on, then turns and walks back to her car. Andrew is standing behind the open trunk, loading a shotgun, she looks at the trunk, then at Andrew, whose face is set in a mask of desperate anger. He looks up, then sighs, nods, and tosses the shotgun into the trunk, and shuts it "We've got work to do."


	3. Wendigo

Two tents are set up near a fire ring, inside one tent two young men, Brad and Gary, are playing head-to-head handheld video games "Dude, you're cheating." "No, you just suck." something growls outside. In the other tent, another young man, Tom, records a video message on his cell phone "Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge," Something dark flicks behind the tent wall behind him, too fast to be identifiable as more than 'something dark'; the screen on the phone caught it. "We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow." he stops recording and sends the video. Brad closes his game system and tosses it aside, Gary stares at his system for a moment, then turns to look at Brad, who is getting up and unzipping the tent "Hey, where ya goin'? My moment of victory." "Nature calls." he goes outside and zips up the tent behind him. The fire crackles, something snaps a stick Brad looks towards the sound and sees the trees rustling, he shakes his head and ignores it, then looks up sharply. Tom sits in his tent reading _The Hero With A Thousand Faces_ , he hears Brad scream. "Brad?" Gary opens his tent and looks around, something grabs him, he screams, Tom turns out his lantern, shadows move very quickly around the outside of his tent. Tom looks around, his eyes following the shadows and growling, silence falls, then something slashes open the tent.

Andrew stands in the cemetery in front of Hannah's grave It reads Hannah Amber Gallis, Beloved Daughter, January 24th 1984 – November 2nd 2005. There is a small picture of her set into the stone above her name, a black-and-white picture of her leaning against the headstone between a white teddy bear and a wooden box with a crucifix laying on the picture, a small American flag next to the box, and three candles standing on the gravestone; one is of the Virgin de Guadalupe. He sits flowers next to a crucifix that's sitting on the headstone, "Hannah, oh god, I should have protected you. I should have told you the truth." He kneels on the ground crying "I'm sorry, I love you." a hand covered in dirt reaches out of the ground and grabs his leg. 

He jerks awake, It is Nov 10, 2005, he is riding shotgun next to Averie, and the cemetery visit is days behind them if it ever occurred. Andrew sits up and rubs his eyes "You alright?" Averie asks "Yeah, I'm fine." "Another nightmare?" he nods "You wanna drive for a while?" "Averie, your whole life you never once asked me that." "Just thought you might want to. Never mind." "Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay." "Mm-hm." he grabs a map from the backseat "Where are we now?" "We are just outside of Grand Junction." he opens up the map of Colorado with a big X marked 35-111 "You know what, Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." "Andrew, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Han—" "We gotta find Dad first." "Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence." "It's weird, These coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge." "What about it?" "There's nothing there. It's just woods. Why is he sending us into the middle of nowhere?" 

The Impala is parked next to a sign that says **Ranger Station Lost Creek Trail, Lost Creek National Forest** "So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote." Andrew says looking at a 3D map of the national forest, paying particular attention to the ridge labeled Blackwater Ridge. Averie looks at the decorations "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." "Dude, look at the size of this freaking bear."he looks over, she is looking at a framed photo of a man standing behind a much larger bear. He stands next to her, she's looking at the picture like it's the coolest thing she's ever seen, "And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure." "You guys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" they turn around a little startled "Oh, no, sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Andrew laughs slightly "Yeah." "Bull." Ranger Wilkinson says looking at them closely "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" "Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger..Wilkinson." "Well I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" "No." Averie says "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine." "We will. Well that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?" "That is putting it mildly." "Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

~~

They leave the station, Averie smiles as she looks at the paper "What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" "Maybe, What do you mean?" "The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?" "I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" "What?" "Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?" "Since now." he gets in the car "Really?" she mutters as she gets in and starts the car. Averie stands on the porch and knocks on the door, Andrew walks up the stairs half annoyed, Haley Collins opens the door "You must be Haley Collins. I'm Averie, this is Andrew, we're, ah, we're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy." she pulls out a fake badge that says 'Averie Kripke' and holds it up to the glass, Andrew pulls a badge out that says 'Andrew Winchester' "Come on in." "Thanks." Haley steps back and lets them in "Is that your car?" "Yeah." "I like it, it's nice." Andrew rolls his eyes "Come on." she says leading them to the kitchen where Ben Collins sits on the counter. "So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Andrew asks "He checks in every day by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos—we haven't heard anything in over three days now." "Well, maybe he can't get cell reception." "He's got a satellite phone, too." "Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Averie says "He wouldn't do that." Ben says 

"Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other." Haley adds "Can I see the pictures and videos he sent you?" "Yeah." she hands Andrew the laptop and he starts going threw the videos "Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow." He notices the shadow behind Tom "Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing." "Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing." Averie says "Then maybe I'll see you there. Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself." "I think I know how you feel." he turns and looks at Averie and Haley "Hey, do you mind forwarding these to me?" "Sure." 

~~

A waitress passes Averie and Andrew two beer bottles "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found." he says opening Ethan's journal "Any before that?" "Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack." she looks at the newspapers, he pulls out the computer "And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936. Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop, Check this out." he pulls up the video and goes through three frames of the video one at a time, A shadow crosses the screen very quickly in the back. Averie notices it "Do that again." he rewinds it and plays it slower "That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move." she hits Andrew's shoulder "Told you something weird was going on." "Yeah, I've got something else." he hands her a newspaper article "Back in '59 one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive." she tilts her head while reading the article "Is there a name?"

~~

Andrew and Averie are sitting on Mr. Shaw's couch "Look, ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a—" "Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Andrew asks, Mr. Shaw takes the cigarette out of his mouth and nods. Averie sighs kind of impatient and annoyed "The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too? What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing? If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it." "I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." Andrew gives him a confused look "Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" "Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like...no man or animal I ever heard." "It came at night?" he nods looking at the ground "Got inside your tent?" "It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming." "It killed them?" "Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive...been asking myself that ever since. There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon. Left me this." he pulls his collar down to show three big slashes on his neck.

~~

They walk through a motel corridor "Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls." Averie says "So it's probably something else, something corporeal." "Corporeal? Excuse me, professor." "Shut up. So what do you think?" "The claws, the speed that it moves...could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it." 

She opens the trunk of the Impala, then the weapons box, and props it open with a shotgun and puts some guns in a duffel bag. Andrew leans in "We cannot let that Haley girl go out there." "Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" "Yeah." there's a moment of silence "Her brother's missing, Andy. She's not gonna just sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." "So what, finding Dad's not enough, now we have to babysit some woman who can't sit back and let someone help?" Averie slams the trunk shut and glares at him "What?" he asks "Nothing." she says walking away.

Roy talks to Haley as Andrew and Averie pull up in the impala "I'll tell you again, I don't think Ben should come." "Roy-" "Look, you're paying me good money to keep everybody safe. I think Ben's safest at home." Averie gets out "You guys got room for two more?" Haley turns around "Wait, you want to come with us?" Roy glares at Averie "Who are these two?" "Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Andrew passes them. "You're rangers?" "That's right." "and you're hiking in biker boots and jeans?" she looks down at her boots and jeans "Well sweetheart, I don't do shorts." "What, you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." "Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all."

The group hikes through the forest, Roy in the lead, then Averie, Haley, Ben, and Andrew bringing up the rear "Roy, you said you did a little hunting." Averie says "Yeah, more than a little." "Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" "Mostly buck, sometimes bear." she cuts in front of him "Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" he grabs her and pushes her back, he grabs a stick and sets off the bear trap she almost stepped in "You should watch where you step ranger." she looks down "It's a bear trap?" she conitinues walking, Haley catches up "You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a _duffel_ bag. You're not rangers. So who the hell are you?" "Andy and I are siblings, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat." "Why didn't you tell me that from the start?" "I'm telling you now. 'sides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. So we okay?" "Yeah...okay." "And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" she pulls a pack of peanut M&Ms out of the duffel bag and eats a few.

~~

"This is it. Blackwater Ridge." Roy says looking around, Andrew walks past him "What coordinates are we at?" he pulls a GPS out which reads N 35 45.383, W -111 00.55. The same coordinates that Ethan had written in the journal "Thirty-five and minus one-eleven." Averie walks over to her brother and they listen for any sound "You hear that?" "Yeah. Not even crickets." Roy looks up at the sky "I'm gonna go take a look around." "You shouldn't go off by yourself." "That's sweet. Don't worry about me." he waves his gun around and pushes them out of the way. She looks over at Ben and Halyey "All right, everybody stays together. Let's go." 

The four of them are looking around a large rock, "Haley! Over here!" Roy shouts, they all run over to him "Oh my god.." the tents are torn up and bloody "Looks like a grizzly." Averie and Haley look around "Tommy?" she takes her backpack off and goes through the campsite "Tommy?!" Andrew runs over to her "Shh." "Tommy?!" Shhh." "Why?" "Something might still be out there." "Andy, come here!" he goes over to Averie "The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird. I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog." Haley sits on the ground crying, she goes over and keels next to her "Hey, he could still be alive." she gives Averie a look. "Help! Help! Help! Somebody!" they run quickly to the yelling of the shouter "It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley asks "Everybody back to camp."

Back at the campsite their stuff is gone "Our packs!" "So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." "What the hell is going on?" Andrew looks up at the trees "It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." "You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear." Roy says angrily, he walks over to Averie "I need to speak with you. In private." they walk away "Let me see Dad's journal." she hands it to him and he flips through until he finds a certain page. "All right, check this out." he points at a first-nation style drawing "Oh come on, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." "Think about it, Averie, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." "Great, that means this is useless." she says pulling out a pistol. 

He hands her Ethan's journal back "We gotta get these people to safety." he walks back to the campsite "All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten...more complicated." "Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy says "It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now." "One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." "We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you." he gets in Andrew's face "You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night." "Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here." "You know you're crazy, right?" "Yeah? You ever hunt a wen-" Averie covers his mouth and pulls him away from Roy "Chill out." he nods and Haley speaks up "Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." Averie looks at her "It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." "How?"

~~

The group has built a campfire, and Averie draws something in the dirt around the campsite while Haley pokes at the fire. "One more time that's a-" "Anasazi symbol. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Roy laughs and picks up his gun "You two are dumbasses, these things aren't real." "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Averie says walking over to Andrew, who is sitting alone at the edge of their campsite, "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" "Averie-" "No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" there's a moment of silence "Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" "Yeah, you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." "Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" 

She hands Ethan's journal to him "This book, This is Dad's single most valuable possession—everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us, I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business." "That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just—call us? Why doesn't he—tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" "I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it." he looks at the journal and shakes his head "Averie...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Hannah's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." "Okay, all right, Andy, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man." "How do you do it? How does Dad do it?" she looks over at Haley and Ben "Well for one, them. I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable." he smiles "I'll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can."

A twig snaps nearby "Help me, somebody please!" they go back to camp and Averie points her gun as the five of them are looking around "Help!" Haley looks at Averie with a terrified look "He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." Roy laughs "Inside the magic circle?" "Help! Help me!" it continues calling. Roy points his gun in the direction of the sound "Okay, that's no grizzly." Haley looks at Ben "It's okay. You'll be alright, I promise." the Wendigo rushes past the site "It's here." Andrew mutters. Roy starts shooting it "I hit it!" he runs towards the last known place of it "Roy, no! Roy!" she turns to Ben and Haley "Stay here." her and Andrew run after Roy "It's over here in the tree!" it reaches down and snaps Roy's neck. "Roy!" Andrew looks around trying to see where the wendigo went.

~~

In the morning Andrew is sitting against a hollow tree stump, holding Ethan's journal and playing with a lanyard attached to it. Averie, Haley and Ben are among the tents "I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real." "I wish I could tell you different." "How do we know it's not out there watching us?" "We don't. But we're safe for now." "How do you know about this stuff?" she looks over at Andrew and back to Haley "Kind of runs in the family." Andrew starts walking over "So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." she nods "Well, hell, you know I'm in." he hands the journal to Haley "'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'. They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." "How's a man turn into one of those things?" 

Averie starts picking things up off the ground "Well, it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp." Ben cuts in "Like the Donner Party." "Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality. If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry." "So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" "You're not gonna like it." Averie says "Tell me." "More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." "And then how do we stop it?" "Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically—" she holds up a can of lighter fluid, white cloth, and beer bottle she found on the ground "We gotta torch the sucker."

Averie leads the way through the woods, Molotov cocktail in hand. Haley follows, then Ben, then Andrew. They pass trees with claw marks and blood, Andrew stops "Averie." she stops and turns "What?" They look around at the trees, there are bloody claw marks and broken branches everywhere, "You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow." something starts growling, they turn and look, the trees start rustling. Haley is standing under a tree, blood drips on her shirt, she notices and looks up, then leaps out of the way; Roy's corpse lands where she'd stood. Averie examines him as Andrew goes over to Haley "His neck's broke." there's louder growling now, she looks up "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!" Ben falls and Andrew hurries back to help him up, dividing the group two and two. "Come on, I gotcha, I gotcha." the two girls stop short: the wendigo is in front of them, Haley screams. "Haley?" Ben asks, Andrew picks up the Molotov cocktail, the bottle is broken "Averie?"

~~

"If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asks "Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Ben looks down and sees a trail of Peanut M&Ms "They went this way." He smiles "It's better than breadcrumbs." They follow the trail, then come to a mine entrance marked with a sign that says **_WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL_**. He looks at Ben, shrugs, and goes inside. Ben follows, Above the entrance is a larger sign that says _**KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE.**_ Andrew shines the flashlight ahead of them. Then there's growling; he shuts off the light and pulls Ben against the wall. The wendigo comes towards them, he covers Ben's mouth before he can scream. It takes a different tunnel at the crossing, they keep going., The floorboards creak and they fall through the floor; into a pile of bones. There is another pile nearby of skulls. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay." Andrew says, he looks up; Averie and Haley are hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. Andrew runs to Averie, as Ben runs to Haley. "Averie!" "Haley, wake up." Andrew grabs Averie and shakes her "Averie!" she opens her eyes "Are you okay?" she winces before replying "Yeah." "Haley, Haley, wake up, wake up!" Ben says, Andrew cuts Averie down and Ben takes care of Haley. They help them over to an empty patch of floor and get them sat down. Averie makes pained noises "You sure you're all right?" "Yeah. Yep. Where is it?" "It's gone for now." Haley divests herself of rope, she stands up and spots Tom still hanging and starts crying "Tommy.." she touches his cheek. His head jerks up, she jumps back and shrieks then turns to Andrew. "Cut him down!" he runs over and cuts Tom down "We're gonna get you out of here." Haley says. The stolen supplies are piled in the corner, Averie picks up flare guns "Check it out." "Flare guns. Those'll work." Andrew says grinning, she laughs and twirls the guns. 

~~

They head down a tunnel, Averie and Andrew in the lead with the flare guns, Haley and Ben supporting Tom, who is limping. There's loud growling "Sounds like someone's home for supper." Averie says "We'll never out run it." she turns and looks at Andrew "You thinking what I'm thinking?" "Yeah, I think so." she looks at Ben and Haley "All right, listen to me. Stay with Andy. He's gonna get you out of here." "What are you gonna do?" Haley asks, Averie smiles before walking away yelling "Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste _good_." He waits until she's far enough away "Hey, you want some white meat, bitch! I'm right here!" he looks at them "All right, come on! Hurry!" Andrew, Haley, Ben, and Tom hurry down a tunnel, Growling. He turns: the wendigo is right in his face. He shoots and misses, then runs after the other three "Andrew!" Haley yells "Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry." They run to the end of the tunnel, the wendigo right behind "Get behind me." he says, they hide behind him as it approaches. Averie appears behind it "Hey!" it turns and she shoots it in the stomache, the flare goes off and it goes up into flames. "Not bad huh?" Andrew smiles as the five of them get out of the mine.

~~

A sheriff is interviewing Ben, Andrew is standing with him "And the bear came back again after you yelled at it?" a sheriff asks Ben "That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds." "All right, we'll go after it first thing." Averie is sitting and talking to Haley after they've both been patched up "So I don't know how to thank you." Averie smirks, Haley smiles "Must you cheapen the moment?" "Yeah." A paramedic comes over to Haley "You riding with your brother?" "Yes." he walks back to the ambulance, Haley turns to Ben "Let's go." Andrew and Ben nod at each other, Haley kisses Averie on the cheek "I hope you find your father." "Thanks. Andy, let's go." Haley and Ben climb in the ambulance with Tom, who is shirtless and bandaged, Andrew sits on the Impala's hood with Averie. The doors shut "Man, I hate camping." "Me too." "Andy, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?" "Yeah, I know. But in the meantime? I'm driving." she rolls her eyes and tosses him the keys, they get in the car slamming the doors almost in-sync.


	4. Dead in the Water

Will Carlton sits on the kitchen counter eating cereal, Bill Carlton at the table reading the newspaper, Sophie Carlton comes into the room and kisses her father, Bill, on the cheek "Morning, Daddy." "Morning, sweetheart." she goes to get something out of the refrigerator. Will looks at her "All these workouts, Soph, I don't know. Guys don't like buff girls." "Yeah, well, girls don't like guys who still live at home." he drinks the milk in the bowl and sarcastically laughs, Sophie mocks him and opens the door to leave. "Be careful." Bill says "I will." she closes the door and walks out to the lake. She stands on the dock, Will watches from a distance as she dives in. She swims and comes up for air, looking around; she sees no one. She keeps swimming, She comes up for air again and looks around some more; still no one. Something approaches her from underwater and pulls her under. There's no bubbles, there's nothing.

~~

There is a mostly empty plate in front of Averie, who is circling obituaries in a newspaper, she circles an obituary that reads _CARLTON, SOPHIE -The Carlton family is sad to announce the death of their beloved daughter in a tragic swimming accident. Sophie Carlton, 18, was having her daily swim in Lake Manitoc WI, when suddenly [...]_ A waitress walks up to Averie, she reads the nametag 'Wendy' "Can I get you anything else?" she looks up and grins around the pen she's been chewing on, Andrew walks over and sits "Just the check please." "Okay." she walks away and Averie looks at him "You know, Andy, we are allowed to have fun once in a while." she points at Wendy "That's fun." he shakes his head "What'd you circle?" "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago." "A funeral, with no body?" "Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever." "Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Averie. Other people just stop looking for them." Averie looks at him "Something you want to say to me?" "The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day." "Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?" "I don't know. Something. Anything." "You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find Dad as much as you do?" "Yeah, I know you do, it's just—" she glares at him "I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?" he rolls his eyes, Wendy passes by and distracts Averie "All right, Lake Manitoc." he says, he notices that she isn't paying attention"Hey!" she returns her attention to him "Huh?" "Lake Manitoc, how far?"

~~

The Impala pulls up in front of the Carlton house, they get out and walk up to the door, Averie knocks and Will opens it "Will Carlton?" "Yeah, that's right." "I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill. We're with the US Wildlife Service." Bill is sitting on a bench on the dock, Will stands on the back porch talking to them "She was about a hundred yards out. That's where she got dragged down." "And you're sure she didn't just drown?" "Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as in her own bathtub." Andrew looks at him "So no splashing? No signs of distress?" "No, that's what I'm telling you." "Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" "No. Again, she was really far out there." "You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" "No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?" "We'll let you know as soon as we know." Averie starts walking to the Impala "What about your father?" Andrew asks looking over at Bill "Can we talk to him?" she stops and looks at Andrew "Look, if you don't mind, I mean...he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot." "We understand." He walks over to Averie and they both get into the car.

~~

Sheriff Jake Devins talks to Andrew and Averie "Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" "You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." "Like what?" They walk into Jake's office, he motions to chairs in front of his desk, "Here, sit, please. There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." "Yeah, Right." Averie says laughing, Andrew glances over at her "Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still—We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there." "That's weird, though, I mean, that's, that's the third missing body this year." "I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about." "I know.." "Anyway, All this...it won't be a problem much longer." "What do you mean?" "Well, the dam, of course." "Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak." "It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that." "Exactly." 

A young woman, Andrea Barr, opens the door "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" Andrew and Averie stand up "This is my daughter." "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Averie." she shakes Andrea's hand "Andrea Barr, Hi." "They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Jake says "Oh." a little boy, Lucas Barr, walks around Andrea "Oh, hey there. What's your name?" he walks away not speaking, Andrea follows him "His name's Lucas." Averie turns and looks at them, they're in the main room coloring "Is he okay?" Andrew asks "My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake stands up and walks over to the office door "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know." she nods, the three of them leave the office "Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Andrea looks at her "Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south." "Two—would you mind showing us?" Andrew shakes his head noticing this is one of Averie's stupid pick-up tactics. Andrea laughs "You want me to walk you two blocks?" "Not if it's any trouble." "I'm headed that way anyway." she turns to Jake "I'll be back to pick Lucas up at three. We'll go to the park then sweetie." she says kissing Lucas's forehead. "Thanks again." Andrew says as they leave.

~~

Andrea leads them across a street to the motel "So, cute kid." Averie says "Thanks." "Kids are best, huh?" Andrea looks at her and looks back at the motel "There, just like I said, two blocks." "Thank You." Andrew says, Andrea looks at Averie "Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." as she leaves she calls over her shoulder "Enjoy your stay!" Andrew laughs "'Kids are best.' you don't even like kids." "I love kids." "Name three children you know." she stands there thinking and comes up with nothing. Andrew walks into the motel "I'm thinking!"

Andrew is working on his laptop, Averie is going through her clothes, "So there's the three drowning victims this year." "Any before that?" "Uh, yeah." he has a browser window open to _The Lake Manitoc Tribune_. **_DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL_**. He clicks, and another browser window comes up, again the _Tribune:_ **12-YEAR-OLD GIRL DROWNS IN LAKE** _,_ _Second drowning in 6 months at Lake Manitoc_ "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace." she tosses a shirt onto the bed "So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" "This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me." "Why?" "Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it." Andrew scrolls to the comments section of an article, Averie points at it "Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" he reads the page "Christopher Barr, the victim in May." he clicks on a link **_LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT_**. The picture loads: it shows a police officer with Lucas "Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued. Maybe we do have an eyewitness." "No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." 

~~

Andrea sits on a bench and watches Lucas, who is at another bench coloring and playing with toy soldiers, "Can we join you?" Andrew asks "I'm here with my son." Averie looks over at Lucas "Mind if I say hi?" she walks over to him. "Tell your friend this whole _Jerry Maguire_ thing is not gonna work on me." Andrea says to Andrew "I don't think that's what this is about." Averie kneels down next to the bench where Lucas is coloring; when he doesn't even look up, she picks up one of the toy soldiers "Oh, I used to love these things!" he continues ignoring her "So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists." there's a pile of drawings piled on the bench, the top one is a black swirl, the other is a red bike "Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?" she picks up a crayon "I'm not that bad myself." she picks up a pad of paper and starts drawing "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something." Lucas looks up at her and looks back at what he's drawing. 

"Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh...or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake. Okay, no problem. This is for you." she hands him a drawing of stick figures "This is my family, My Mom, Dad, Me, and my geek little brother. All right, so I'm a sucky artist. I'll see you around, Lucas." She gets up and walks back over to Andrew and Andrea "Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident." Andrea says "Yeah, we heard. Sorry." "What are the doctors saying?" "That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." "That can't be easy. For either of you." "We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..." Averie frowns "Well, Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Lucas gets up and walks over to the group "You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-Hey Sweetie." he hands Averie a picture "Thanks, Thank you Lucas." it's a picture of the Carlton house.

~~

Bill is sitting in a chair, doing nothing, Will approaches "Hey, Dad? You, you should probably eat something. I'm gonna make some dinner, okay?" he says nothing and turns his head away. Will washes a fish at the sink, he doesn't turn the water off when he begins cutting up the fish. The water turns brown, he notices and shuts off the water. Black water comes up through the drain and fills the sink, he rolls up his sleeve to pull the plug out of the drain. He comes up with the plug, but the water doesn't drain. He sticks his arm back in the water, and something grabs it, pulling him into the sink. He drowns, and the water drains.

~~

Averie is inside the motel room sitting on a bed, Andrew opens the door and comes in "So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." "What do you mean?" he sits next to her "I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead." "He drowned?" "Yep, in the sink." "What the hell? So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else." "Yeah, but what?" "I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water...water that comes from the same source." "The lake." "Yeah." "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time." "And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere. This is going to happen again." "And we do know one other thing for sure. We know this _has_ got something to do with Bill Carlton." "Yeah, it took both his kids." "And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris—Bill Carlton's godson." "Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."

~~

Bill Carlton is sitting on the bench on the dock "Mr. Carlton?" Andrew asks, he looks over at them, Averie nervously says "We're from the, the Department—" "I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today." "Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there? Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death—we think there might be a connection to you or your family." "My children are gone. It's...it's worse than dying. Go away. Please." They walk back to the Impala "What do you think?" "I think the poor guy's been through hell. I also think he's not telling us something." He leans on the side of the car "So now what?" Averie turns and looks at the house "What is it Av?" "Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something." She pulls Lucas' picture out of her pocket, which is a drawing of the Carlton house.

~~

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea." Andrea says "I just need to talk to him." Averie says, Andrew and Averie are inside Andrea's house, talking to her. "He won't say anything. What good's it gonna do?" "Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there." "My husband, the others, they just drowned. That's all." "If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there's even a _possibility_ that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son." Lucas is coloring, toy soldiers standing around him. Averie, Andrea, and Andre approach the doorway, Averie enters and sits down by Lucas. "Hey, Lucas. You remember me? You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." he's drawn two more pictures of the red bicycle, now he's drawing a person drowning in the water, she lays the Carlton house drawing in front of him "How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me." he ignores her and continues coloring "You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too." he drops his crayon and looks up at her. He hands her a picture of a white church, a yellow house, and a boy with a blue baseball cap and red bicycle in front of a wooden fence "Thanks Lucas." 

~~

Andrew and Averie are in the Impala, Andrew is holding the church picture, "Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died." Averie says "There are cases—going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies." "Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please." "All right, we got another house to find." "The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone." he looks at the picture "See this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here." "Oh, College Boy thinks he's so smart." "You know, um...What you said about Mom...You never told me that before." "It's no big deal." Andrew gives her a worried look, she looks at him "Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?"

~~

They approach a white church shaped like the one in Lucas's picture, Averie holds up the picture and looks at it, comparing it to the scene in front of him; there's a yellow house next to the church and a wooden fence near the house. Andrew looks at her, they both look up at the church and cross the street to the house. They knock on the door and an old woman, Mrs. Sweeney, opens the door "Come in." she says letting them in. "We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle." Averie asks "No ma'am. Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." she looks over at a picture of Peter on the stand "The police never— _I_ never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared. Losing him—you know, it's...it's worse than dying." Andrew points over to some toy soldiers sitting on the table, Averie looks, it's the same number of soldiers Lucas has with him all the time. 

~~

Averie's driving as Andrew looks out the window "Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow." he says "And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished." "So what if Bill did something to Peter?" "What if he killed him?" "Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible." They pull up in front of Bill's house "Mr. Carlton?!" Andrew shouts, a boat engine is heard, Averie runs to the lake, Andrew lagging behind. Averie and Andrew go around the house to see Bill going out on the lake in his boat, they run to the end of the dock yelling "Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!" "Mr. Carlton!" Bill ignores them and keeps going, the water rises up and flips his boat over, the boat and him vanish.

~~

Andrew, Averie, and Jake Devins walk in the door of the police station, Andrea is sitting next to Lucas, who is rocking back and forth in a chair "Sam, Dean. I didn't expect to see you here." she says walking over to them "So now you're on a first-name basis. What are you doing here?" Jake asks looking at her "I brought you dinner." "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time." "I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?" "Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." Lucas looks up and whines, looking stricken; he jumps up and grabs Averie's arm. "Lucas, hey, what is it?" he continues pulling on her arm "Lucas?" Andrea asks "Lucas, it's okay. It's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay." Averie says, Andrea pulls him away from her and leads him outside. He doesn't look away from her, Jake throws down his jacket and goes into his office, Andrew and Averie follow. "Okay, just so I'm clear, you see...something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the drink, and you never see him again?" Averie looks up at Jake "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." "And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?" 

Andrew and Averie look at Jake with shocked looks "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two." "See, now, we can explain that." "Enough. Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again." "Door number two sounds good." "That's the one I'd pick." 

~~

Andrew and Averie are in the Impala, waiting at a traffic light. A sign says I-43 North to Milwaukee is to the left, the light turns green. The Impala doesn't move "Green." Andrew says "What?" "The light's green." she turns right "the interstate is the other way.." "I know." "But Av, this job, I think it's over." "I'm not so sure." "If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest." "All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?" "But why would you think that?" "Because Lucas was really scared." "That's what this is about?" "I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay." "Who are you? And what have you done with my sister?" he says jokingly "Shut up."

~~

The water coming out of the faucet turns brown, Andrea starts washing herself with the cloth, then opens her eyes. The water is entirely brown now. She screams and tries to get out of the tub, but something drags her down, Lucas starts banging on the door, Andrea's head is pulled under the water. She pulls herself out. She is pulled under again; It happens a few more times. Lucas keeps hitting the door. Andrew and Averie ring the doorbell, "Are you sure about this? It's pretty late." Lucas opens the door looking terrified and grabs Averie's arm and leads them upstairs. Water is pouring out from under the bathroom door and down the stairs. Lucas starts pounding on the bathroom door again, Averie pushes him over to Andrew and kicks in the door. He grabs her, so Andrew runs into the bathroom and sticks his arms in the tub, trying to pull Andrea out. She is pulled back under, but he keeps pulling until she's is all the way out, she starts coughing up water.

Dawn is breaking, Andrew and Andrea sit in the living room, she's is dry and wearing comfortable clothing. "Can you tell me?" "No. I doesn't make any sense." Averie looks at the bookshelf, Andrea starts crying "Am I going crazy?" "No, you're not. Tell me what happened. Everything." "I heard...I thought I heard...there was this voice." "What did it say?" "It said...it said 'come play with me'. What's happening?" Averie pulls out a scrapbook that says "Jake – 12 years old" and opens it, flipping pages. She closes it again and goes to Andrew and Andrea; she puts the book down in front of Andrea, open to a picture of Explorer Troop 37. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" "What? Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures." she points at a picture of Jake standing next to Peter "Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff." Averie says "Bill _and_ the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter." Andrew says. Andrea looks at them "What about Chris? My dad—what are you talking about?" Averie looks over at Lucas who is looking outside "Lucas, what is it?" he gets up, opens the door and walks outside "Lucas?" they follow him, he stops and looks at the ground. "You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" she nods and takes Lucas in as Andrew and Averie get shovels from the Impala.

Andrew's shovel clanks against something, they dig with their hands and pull out a red bicycle "Peter's bike." a loud voice is heard yelling "Who are you?" they turn around and Jake is pointing a gun at them. "Put the gun down, Jake." "How did you know that was there?" Averie glares at him "What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." Andrea sees Jake pointing the gun at the siblings "Go to your room, sweetie. Now. Lock the door and wait for me. Don't come out." Lucas runs off to his room. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." "You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about." Andrea runs over to Jake "Dad!" "And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit." "It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does." Andrew adds "Yeah, and how do you know that?" "Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton." "Listen to yourselves, both of you. You're insane." "I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."

Lucas sneaks outside, "Come play with me." Peter's spirit says, he follows the voice. "Dad is any of this true?" Andrea asks "No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous." "Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me. Tell me you—you didn't kill anyone." Jake looks away from her "Oh my god." "Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank. Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational." Averie sighs "All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now." Andrea sees Lucas going down to the lake "Lucas!" 

They all run up to the dock, Lucas is leaning over the side, reaching for a toy soldier in the water "Come play with me." Averie runs ahead of everyone "Lucas!" hands reach out and drag him under. Averie runs and dives off the dock, Andrew dives in after her "Oh my god! Lucas!"she starts taking her jacket off to dive in, Andrew looks at her "Andrea, stay there!" "No! I need to get Lucas!" "We'll get him! Just stay on the dock!" Averie comes up for air, then Andrew goes down. A minute later he comes up "You see him?" "No." They dive back down, Jake starts walking into the water "Peter, if you can hear me...please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry." Andrea looks over at him "Daddy, no!" "Peter. Lucas—he's, he's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me." Averie comes back up for air, Andrew is still under looking for Lucas "Jake, No, stay out!" "Just let it be over!"Jake is dragged down "No! No! Dad!" Averie swims down again and comes up and shakes her head. Andrew swims up with Lucas in his arms "Lucas! Thank you!" 

~~

Andrew and Averie walk out of the motel, Averie opens the car door and Andrew tosses a duffel in. "Look, we're not gonna save everybody." he says "I know." Andrea walks up with Lucas "Andy, Averie." "Hey." "We're glad we caught you, We just, um, made you lunch for the road." Lucas smiles holding a plate of sandwiches "Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." "Can i give it to them now?" he asks "Of course." She kisses his forehead and smiles, Averie smiles "Lucas, why don't we put these in the car?" Once they walk to the other side of the car, Andrew and Andrea start talking "How you holding up?" "It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" "Andrea, I'm sorry." "You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that." Averie is sitting on the trunk "All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it one more time." "Led Zepplin rules!" "That's right!" she gives him a high-five "You take care of your mom alright?" he nods. Andrea kisses Andrew, Averie smiles and shakes her head "Andy, get your ass in the car, or we're gonna lose sunlight before we hit the road." Andrea steps back "Guess this is good bye?" "Sadly, yeah." Averie gets in the car and waves bye to Lucas and Andrea, he gets in and she drives off.


	5. Phantom Traveler

A very nervous man, George Phelps, sits up and looks at his plane ticket, then goes into the bathroom. He splashes water on his face, a second man comes out of a stall "Nervous flyer?" "It's that obvious, huh?" "You know, what are the odds of dying in a plane crash? I mean, what? Twenty thousand to one?" the man leaves and George watches him leave "Wow. That's, uh, really reassuring. Thank you." he mutters. Above his head, a cloud of black particles swirls around his head, and enters his eyes. As he gets on the plane the pilot is talking to the flight attendant "Amanda, how are you today?" "I'm doing just fine Chuck." George steps up as Chuck leaves "Hello, have a nice flight sir." he turns to look at her, his eyes are all black "Oh, I'm counting on it." she breathes shakily and tries helping the next person "Um...uh, 11F, that's the middle of the plane, on..." "Thank you." "The left."

40 minutes after the plane lifts off "In just a few minutes our flight crew will begin room service in the cabin..." came over the announcements, George turns to his seatmate "Excuse me. Do you know how long we've been up?" "Oh, uh." she looks at her watch "About 40 minutes." "Wow. Time really does fly, huh? Excuse me. I've got to stretch my legs." he gets up, squeezes past the woman, and heads to the back of the plane. When he reaches the rear exit, he grasps the release handle. A young man in an aisle seat, Max Jaffey, notices him "Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" he turns to look at Max, eyes black again, then rips the door open. He goes flying out the door, it flies off tearing half a wing off the plane, and the plane goes down. Amanda struggles to get to a seat and, after the oxygen masks deploy, to get one over her face. Max, Chuck, and the Co-pilot already have them on.

~~

Averie is sleeping, as the door opens she slides her hand under the pillow for a weapon, she turns and sees Andrew carrying coffee and donuts "Morning, sunshine." he says laughing "What time is it?" "Uh, it's about 5:45." "in the morning?" "Yep." "Where does the day go?" she sits up and sighs "Did you get any sleep last night?" "Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours." "Liar. 'Cause I was up at 3:00, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial." he sits down "Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV." "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" "I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal." "Yes, it is." "Look, I appreciate your concern—" "Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp." he shrugs "Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Hannah?" he hands her a cup of coffee "Yeah. But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you." "You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that." "So, what? All this it...never keeps you up at night?" Averie shakes her head "Never? You're never afraid?" "No, not really." Andrew reaches under her pillow and pulls out a large hunting knife. She reaches forward and snatches the knife back "That's not fear. That is precaution." "All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." he lays down on the bed.

Averie's phone goes off, she answers it "Hello?" "Averie, it's, uh, it's Jerry Panowski. You and your dad helped me out a couple years back." "Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing. It's not back, is it?" "No. No. Thank god, no. But it's something else, and...uh, I think it could be a lot worse." "What is it?" "Can we talk in person?" "Sure." he hangs up, she sighs "Well Andy, let's go help Jerry."

~~

"Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Averie and your dad really helped me out." Jerry says, "Yeah, she told me it was a poltergeist?" a man passing by hears them " _Poltergeist_? Man, I loved that movie." Jerry glares at him "Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking." then he looks back at Andrew and Averie "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something, if it wasn't for you and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?" "Yeah, I was. I'm—taking some time off." "Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time." "He did?" "Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?" Averie cuts in "He's, um, wrapped up in a job right now." he nods "Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Andrew. Even trade, huh?" Averie laughs, Andrew smiles "No, not by a long shot." 

He leads them into the office "I listened to this. And, well, it sounded like it was up your alley." he puts a CD in "Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours." he pushes play "Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! This is United Britania 2485—immediate instruction help! United Britanis 2485, I copy your message—May be experiencing some mechanical failure..." there's a loud _whoosh_ "Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh...well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault." "You don't think it was?" "No, I don't." "Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um, a list of survivors." "All right." Averie tilts her head "uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" "The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage...fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance." "No problem."

~~

Andrew is sitting on the impala's hood as a Copy Jack while Averie is inside getting IDs, she walks out and her looks over his shoulder "You've been in there forever." "Can't rush perfection." she says holding up two IDs "Homeland security. That's pretty illegal even for us." "Yeah, well, it's something new. You know? People haven't seen it a thousand times." they get in the car "So, what do you got?" "Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder." "Yeah?" "Listen." he presses play, there's a scratchy voice saying "No survivors." "'No survivors'? What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors." she asks "Got me." "So, what are you thinking? A haunted flight?" "There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers." "Mm-hmm." "Or remember flight 401?" "Right. The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights." "Yeah. Maybe we have a similar deal." "All right, so, survivors, which one do you want to talk to first?" "Third on the list: Max Jaffey." "Why him?" "Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did." "What makes you say that?" "I spoke to his mother and she told me where to find him." 

~~

The Impala is parked in front of the gate to a building with a sign out front reading _Riverfront_ _Psychiatric_ _Hospital. "_ I don't understand. I already spoke with Homeland Security." Max says sitting in front of them "Right. Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple questions...Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything...unusual?" "Like what?" "Strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices." "No, nothing." "Look Mr. Joffey-" "Jaffey." "Sorry, look Mr. Jaffey, you check yourself in here right?" he nods "Can I ask why?" "I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash." "Uh huh. And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?" "I...I don't want to talk about this anymore." Averie sighs "See, I think maybe you did see something up there. We need to know what." "No. No, I was...delusional. Seeing things." "He was seeing things." Andrew looks at her, then over at Max "It's okay. Then just tell us what you _thought_ you saw, please." "There was...this—man. And, uh, he had these...eyes—these, uh...black eyes. And I saw him—or I _thought_ I saw him..." "What?" "He opened the emergency exit. But that's...that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's something like two tons of pressure on that door." "Yeah. This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage?" "What are you, nuts?" he tilts his head "He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me." 

~~

They pull up in front is George Phelps' house "So here we are. George Phelps, seat 20C." "Hmm. Man, I don't care how strong you are. Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight." "Not if you're human. But maybe this guy George was something else. Some kind of creature, maybe, in human form." "Does that look like a creature's lair to you?" Andrew looks at the perfectly normal house "No, but we've seen weirder things than this." He walks up the stairs as Averie knocks on the door, Mrs. Phelps opens the door and lets them in, "This is your late husband?" Andrew asks picking up a framed picture "Yes, that was my George." "And you said he was a...dentist?" "Mm-hm. He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that..." "How long were you married?" "Thirteen years." "In all that time, did you ever notice anything...strange about him, anything out of the ordinary?" "Well...uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean." Andrew and Averie look at each other and Andrew shakes his head. They walk down the stairs "I mean it goes without saying. It just doesn't make any sense." "A middle-aged dentist with an ulcer is not exactly evil personified. You know what we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage." "Okay. But if we're gonna go that route, we'd better look the part." Averie sighs knowing what that means. 

~~

Averie and Andrew exit a store, "Mort's for style", wearing crisp black suits with white shirts, Andrew adjusts his collar, Averie groans "Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers." "No, you don't. You look more like a...seventh-grader at her first dance." she looks down "I hate this thing." "Hey. You want into that warehouse or not?" Averie gets in then Andrew gets in the car and drive to the warehouse. They enter the warehouse and show their badges to the security guard, who nods and lets them in. They walk among plane wreckage; Averie pulls out a device and puts earbuds in her ears "What is that?" Andrew asks "It's an EMF meter. Reads electromagnetic frequencies." "Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is, but why does that one look like a busted-up walkman?" "'Cause that's what I made it out of. It's homemade." she smiles "Yeah, I can see that." her smile turns into a frown, she runs the EMF meter over a piece of the wreckage with yellow dust on it and gets an audible spike. "Check out the emergency door handle." she scratches the dust "What is this stuff?" "One way to find out." he scrapes some into a bag.

~~

Two agents in black suits approach the security desk and show their badges, the security guard scoffs "Homeland Security? What, one team of you guys isn't enough?" "What are you talking about?" "Two of your buddies went inside not five minutes ago." the agents look at each other. Them and several security guards bust in, guns drawn, and search. Averie and Andrew hear them coming. They see nothing as they search, once they disappear, Averie and Andrew peer around a corner and walk out casually. An alarm blares, and they run to the gated exit. Pulling off her suit jacket, Averie throws it over the barbed wire at the top of the fence, and they climb over. She grabs it "Well, these monkey suits do come in handy." They both run to the impala making sure nobody can see them.

~~

Jerry looks at the yellow stuff through a microscope; what the microscope sees is replicated on a screen "Huh. This stuff is covered in sulfur." Andrew gets a confused look "You're sure?" "Take a look for yourself." there's banging sounds outside, a man is heard "You effin' piece of crap..." Jerry sighs and looks at the Walkers "If you fellows will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire." as Jerry leaves, Averie gets up and walks over to look in the microscope. Jerry is heard outside "Hey. Einstein. Yeah, you. What the heck you doing? Put the wrench down." Averie looks at Andrew "Hmm. You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulfuric residue." "Demonic Possession?" "It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch." "If the guy was possessed, it's possible." she thinks of a reference for a minute "This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?" "You ever heard of something like this before?" "Never.."

~~

Chuck is sitting nervously in a chair, his Copilot is giving him a pep talk, "Listen, Chuck. It's like getting back on a horse. Only in this case, a little twin engine. Not even a horse, more like a pony. I'll be right there with you too. Anytime you feel like you don't want the wheel, I'll take over. Look, Chuck, we don't have to do this today. I'm not trying to rush you." "No, the...the waiting is worse." the co-pilot looks over his shoulder "Okay, they're filling up the tank. Then we go." then he gets up and leaves. Chuck takes a drink of coffee, behind him, a cloud of black particles exits a vent and rushes into his eyes. After a few minutes Chuck walks over to Evan (Co-pilot), who is standing next to a small plane, looking cheerful and relaxed "I'm ready. Let's do this." Evan laughs, confused, and gets into the plane after Chuck. "How you feeling?" "I feel great." "You'll be back flying jumbos before you know it." "I hope so. How long we been up?" "Uh...almost forty minutes." "Wow. Time really does fly." he dives the plane towards the ground, Evan starts panicking "What are you doing?" he looks at him, Chuck's eyes are black and he knocks Evan out. The plane crashes into the ground, breaking into pieces.

~~

Averie and Andrew are in full research mode, with images and articles taped to the walls and strewn across the beds, and Andrew is looking at something on the computer. Averie is reading something on one bed while laying on the other. "So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it." he says sighing "Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this." "Well, that's not exactly true. You see according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." "And this one causes plane crashes?" she sits up, looks at him, and continues "All right, so, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?" "Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" she snorts and looks away "What?" "I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Dad was here." "Yeah. Me too." 

Averie's phone rings, she answers it "Hello?" "Averie, it's Jerry." "Oh, hey, Jerry." "My pilot friend...Chuck Lambert is dead." "Wha—, I'm sorry. What happened?" "He and his buddy went up in a small twin about an hour ago. The plane went down." "Where'd this happen?" "About sixty miles west of here, near Nazareth." "I'll try and ignore the irony in that." "I'm sorry?" "Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon." she hangs up and looks at Andrew "Another crash?" "Yeah. Let's go." "Where?" "Nazareth." 

~~

Jerry's looking through the microscope again "Sulfur?" Averie asks, he nods "Well, that's great. All right, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him." Andrew looks at the floor "With all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the good news." "What's the bad news?" "Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight. And get this, so did flight 2485." Jerry looks away from the microscope "Forty minutes? What does that mean?" Averie sighs "It's biblical numerology. You know Noah's ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death." Andrew looks at her "I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in." "Any survivors?" "No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason. On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP Said?" "'No Survivors'?" she thinks for a moment "It's going after all the survivors. It's trying to finish the job."

~~

Averie's speeding down the road, Andrew's on the phone "Really? Well, thank you for taking our survey, And if you do plan to fly, please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks." he hangs up and looks over at her "All right. That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon." "So our only wildcard is the flight attendant Amanda Walker." "Right. Her sister Karen said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job." "That sounds like our luck." "Averie, this is a five-hour drive, even with you behind the wheel." "Call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass." "I already left her three voice messages. She must have turned her cellphone off." he says looking out the window "God, we're never gonna make it." he mutters. Averie looks over at her little brother "We'll make it." 

They rush into the airport and check the departure board, "Right there. They're boarding in thirty minutes." Andrew says "Okay. We still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone." Averie looks around and sees a curtisy phone, she uses it "Airport Services." "Hi. Gate thirteen." "Who are you calling, ma'am?" "I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on flight, um...flight 4-2-4." they listen to the announcements and hears "Amanda Walker, Amanda Walker, you have a phone call. White courtesy phone, gate thirteen." Averie stands there "Hello?" "Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here." "Karen?" "Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so—" "Wa—wait, that's impossible. I just got off the phone with her." "You what?" "Five minutes ago. She's at her house, cramming for a final. Who is this?" "Uh, well...there must be some mistake." "And how would you even know I was here?" 

Andrew starts walking around Averie to hear the conversation better "Is this one of Vince's friends?" Amanda asks "Guilty as charged." "Wow. This is unbelievable." "He's really sorry." "Well, you tell him to mind his own business and stay out of my life, okay?" "Yes, but...he really needs to see you tonight, so—" "No, I'm sorry. It's too late." "Don't be like that. Come on. The guy's a mess. Really. It's pathetic." "Really?" "Oh, yeah." "Look, I've got to go. Um...tell him to call me when I land." Amanda hangs up "No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!" she looks at the phone after she puts it back "Damn it! So close." "All right, it's time for plan B. We're getting on that plane." Andrew says, Averie grabs his arm "Whoa, whoa, now just hold on a second." she has a terrified look "Averie, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash." "I know." "Okay. So we're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet me back here in five minutes." 

She just stares at him anxiously "Are you alright?" "No, not really." "What? What's wrong?" "Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh..." "Flying?" "It's never really been an issue until now." "You're joking, right?" "Do I look like I'm joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Andy?" "All right. Uh, I'll go." "What?" "I'll do this one on my own." "What are you, nuts? You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash." "Averie, we can do it together, or I can do this one by myself. I'm not seeing a third option, here." "Come on! Really?"

~~

Averie and Andrew are sitting next to each other, the intercom keeps going off "Flight attendants, please cross-check doors before departure." Averie is reading the safety card muttering something, Andrew looks over at her "Just try to relax." "Just try to shut up." she says glaring at him. The plane takes off, she jumps at every rumble and sound it makes, he just smiles and laughs at her. 

A few minutes into the flight, Averie is leaning back humming to herself, Andrew looks over "You're humming Metallica?" "Calms me down." "Look, I get you're nervous, all right? But you got to stay focused." "Okay." "I mean, we got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism." "Yeah, on a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy." "Just take it one step at a time, all right? Now, who is it possessing?" "It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can worm through. Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress." "Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up." "Mm-hm." she looks over at a flight attendant "Hey are you Amanda?" "No, I'm not." "Oh, my mistake." the attendant walks away as she looks back and sees Amanda "All right, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state." Andrew stops her "What if she's already possessed?" "There's ways to test that." 

Averie grabs her back and pulls out a Virgin Mary shaped water bottle "I brought holy water." "No." he takes the bottle and puts it in his jacket "I think we can go more subtle. If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God." "Oh, nice." she starts standing up "Hey." "What?" "Say it in Latin." "I know." she starts walking away "Okay. Hey!" "What?!" "Uh, in Latin, it's _Christo_." "Dude, I know! I'm not an idiot!" she makes her way to the back of the plane, tapping a seat once after the plane shakes. Amanda is fussing with the drink cart and napkins, "Hi." "Hi. Can I help you with something?" "Oh, no. I'm just a bit of an uneasy flier. It makes me feel better to walk around a little bit." "Oh, it happens to the best of us." "Of course, you being a stewardess, I guess flying comes easy to you." Amanda chuckles "You'd be surprised." "Really? You're a nervous flier?" "Yeah, maybe, little bit." "How is it that, being a stewardess, you're scared to fly?" "Kind of a long story." "Right. I'm sorry for asking." "It's okay." "You ever consider other employment?" Amanda sighs "No. Look, everybody's scared of something. I just, uh...I'm not gonna let it hold me back." "Huh." "So..." Averie quietly mutters "Christo." "I'm sorry. Did you say something?" "Christo?" "I—I didn't, I didn't..." "Yeah, nothing. Never mind." Averie turns and goes back to her seat.

"All right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet." Averie says sitting down, Andrew looks at her "You said Christo?" "Yeah." "And?" "There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her." "So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone. Anywhere." the plane slightly shakes "Come on! That can't be normal!" Averie whines "Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence." "Andy, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I'm friggin' four." "You need to calm down." "Well, I'm sorry I can't." "Yes, you can." "Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping." Andrew shakes his head "Listen, if you're panicked, you're wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down. Right now." She takes a few breathes "Good. Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work. The Rituale Romanum." "What do we have to do?" "It's two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful." "More powerful?" "Yeah." "How?" "Well, it doesn't need to possess someone anymore. It can just wreak havoc on its own." she tilts her head a little "Oh. And why is that a good thing?" "Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell once and for all." "First things first, we got to find it." 

Averie walks slowly up the aisle with the EMF meter, getting odd looks but no readings. Andrew suddenly claps her on the shoulder, and she jumps "Ah! Don't do that." "Anything?" No, nothing. How much time we got?" "Fifteen minutes. Maybe we missed somebody." "Maybe the thing's just not on the plane." "You believe that?" "Well, I will if you will." she looks down as the EMF meter spikes. The copilot (Evan) exits the bathroom and heads towards the cockpit "What? What is it?" Andrew asks, Averie looks at Evan "Christo." Evan turns and looks at them, his eyes are all black, he goes into the cockpit as Averie looks at Andrew.

~~

They head to the back towards Amanda "She's not gonna believe this." "Twelve minutes, dude." Amanda looks up at them "Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope." "Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about." Averie says as Andrew closes the curtain "Um, okay. What can I do for you?" "All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole "the truth is out there" speech right now." "look, we know you were on flight 2485." her smile disappears "Who are you guys?" "Now, we've spoken to some of the other survivors. We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure. We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now." "I'm sorry, I-I'm very busy. I have to go back." she tries to push past Averie, who stops her, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? But listen to me, uh...The pilot in 2485, Chuck Lambert. He's dead." "Chuck's dead?" "He died in a plane crash. Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?" "I-" Andrew cuts her off "Look, there was something wrong with 2485. Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too." "Amanda, you have to believe us." she sighs "On...on 2485, there was this man. He...had these eyes.""Yes. That's exactly what we're talking about." "I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?" "Okay. The copilot, we need you to bring him back here." "Why, what does Evan have to do with this?" "Don't have time to explain. We just need to talk to him. Okay?" "How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the copilot—" "Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit." "Do you know that I could lose my job if you—" "Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out." "Okay." 

Amanda leaves and goes to the cockpit, she tells Evan that somebody needs to talk to him, he follows her back to where Andrew and Averie are, Andrew's holding Ethan's journal and Averie's holding holy water. "Yeah, what's the problem?" Averie punches him, knocking him down, she tapes his mouth shut "Wait. What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him." "We are going to." she says pouring some Holy Water on him which sizzles "Oh, my god. What's wrong with him?" Andrew looks at her "Look. We need you calm. We need you outside the curtain." "Well, I don't underst—I don't know—" "Don't let anybody in, okay? Can you do that? Can you do that? Amanda?" "Okay. Okay." she leaves. 

Averie looks up "Come on Andy, I don't know how much longer I can hold him." "Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino, per caelum, caelum antiquos, glori Patri-" The demon breaks free briefly and hits them both until Averie manages to subdue him again. Andrew picks up where he left off "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo, omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te-" it knocks Averie off again and pulls the tape off his mouth, he grabs Andrew by the collar. "I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!" she recovers and hits it, he stands there stunned "Andrew! Finnish!" he stands up "...cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare...Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis...Humiliare sub potenti manu Dei; contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine...quem inferi tremunt..." the spirit exits Evan "Where'd it go?" "It's in the plane. Hurry up. We got to finish it." The plane suddenly dips and heaves violently, Andrew struggles to retrieve the book as Averie splays herself against the exit door, screaming. He manages to grab the book and reads the rest of the exorcism "Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos." A bright electrical charge runs through the entire plane, which then levels out.Various people ask if everyone's okay. Amanda sighs in relief, Averie comes out from behind the curtain, Andrew stands up.

~~

The passengers from the flight are disembarking to an area milling with uniformed agents (PARAMEDIC, FBI, FAA, etc). Evan is seated in a wheelchair with a blanket wrapped around him, being questioned by an FAA Agent "Sir, can you tell me what happened?" "I don't know. I was walking through the airport, then it all goes blank. I don't even remember getting on the plane.". Amanda is being questioned by another FAA Agent "Anything else?" "No, that's all." She sees Andrew and Averie standing across the way and mouths "Thank you". They nod, Averie looks at Andrew "Let's get out of here." he nods with a upset look "You okay?" "Av, it knew about Hannah." "Andy, these things, they, they read minds. They lie. All right? That's all it was." "Yeah.." "Come on." 

They stand in Jerry's office "Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed." he shakes their hands "Your dad's gonna be real proud." Andrew sighs "We'll see you around, Jerry." he starts walking to the door but Averie stays "You know, Jerry." "Yeah?" "I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number, anyway? I've only had it for like six months." "Your Dad gave it to me." Andrew turns around "What?" "When did you talk to him?" Jerry is a little confused "I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, guys." 

Andrew gets into the Impala, Averie sighs "This doesn't make any sense, man. I've called Dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service." she dials Ethan's number, as the voicemail begins she turns so he can hear it. "This is Ethan Walker. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my daughter, Averie. 785-555-0179. She can help." They look at each other "Well, he's still kicking if he can change his voicemail." she starts the car and drives off.


	6. Bloody Mary

Three girls, Lilly, Emily, and Kristy, are laughing, gathered around a table with candles. "Okay, your turn, truth or dare?" Kristy asks, Lilly thinks for a moment "Truth." "Do you want to make out with Benji Swartz?" Emily laughs and Lilly immediately says "Dare." "Okay, lame. You have to...say "Bloody Mary" in the bathroom." "Is that the best you can come up with?" Emily looks at Lilly "Who's Bloody Mary?" "She's this witch-" "I heard she was a lady killed in a car crash." "It doesn't matter who she is. Point is, if you say her name three times in the bathroom mirror she appears...and scratches your eyes out!" Lilly and Emily jump back "So why would anyone say it?" "Because it isn't real." Lilly stands up, Kristy hands her a candle "No turning on the lights, and remember...three times." Lilly opens the bathroom door. She looks at the shadows on the wall, then closes the door and puts the candle down in front of the mirror. "Bloody Mary. This is so stupid. Bloody Mary." the candle flickers, she looks down "Bloody Mary." 

There's a loud noise, she shrieks, it's Emily and Kristy banging on the door. She opens the door, they're laughing "Scared ya!" "You guys are jerks." "Lilly." a voice says, she looks upstairs, her father Steven is standing there "Do you mind keeping it down?" "Sorry, Daddy." Kristy frowns "Sorry, Mr. Shoemaker." He walks down the hallway, he passes seven mirrors, they all have Bloody Mary in them. He walks into a second bathroom, takes some pills out of the bathroom medicine cabinet, and closes the cabinet, revealing another mirror. He pops the pills in his mouth, then looks closer at the mirror, noticing some scratches under his eye.

Lilly and the others are laughing and giggling in the living room "You so like him!" Emily yells Donna, Lilly's older sister walks in the front door "Hey, geek. You guys having fun?" "You're out past curfew." "Thanks, _Dad_." she walks upstairs. A pool of blood is coming out from under the bathroom door. Donna rounds the corner and sees it, stops, then starts forward more slowly. She hesitantly pushes open the bathroom door, revealing a great deal more blood, she screams.

~~

_**Andrew lays on the bed, eyes closed, blood drips on his head. He opens his eyes, Hannah is on the ceiling "Why, Andy Why?" "No!" she bursts into flames "Why?" Andrew is in shock laying on the bed, the room burns. He feels the flames burning his skin, he's good as dead, Hannah is too, all because of him. Because he wasn't there to protect her, because he was too worried about his father and sister.** _

"Andy, wake up." he sits up confused, He's sitting shotgun in the Impala, which is parked in front of a large building. "I take it I was having a nightmare." "Yeah, another one." "Hey, at least I got some sleep." Averie sighs "You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this." "We there?" she frowns, then fakes a smile "Yup, welcome to Toledo, Ohio." he picks up a newspaper that has Steven Shoemaker's obituary circled ' _The Shoemaker family is sad to announce the sudden death of their beloved husband and father Steven Shoemaker. Steven was 46. A short service will be held on Wednesday, October 31 at 2:00 p.m. at the Toledo Funeral Home.'_ "So what do you think really happened to this guy?" "That's what we're gonna find out. Let's go." They get out of the car and head into the hospital, they walk into room 114 marked 'Morgue' there are two desks one with the name Dr. D. Feiklowicz on it the other says morgue technician "Hello." the morgue technician, Fred, says "Hey." "Can I help you?" "Yeah. We're the, uh...med students." Averie says "Sorry?" "Oh, Doctor—Figlavitch didn't tell you? We talked to him on the phone. He, uh, we're from Ohio State." "He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper." Andrew says looking at Averie and shaking his head "Well, I'm sorry, he's at lunch." "Oh well, he said, uh- well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind just showing us the body, do you?" "Sorry, I can't. Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him if you want." "An hour? Ooh. We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then." Averie looks over at Andrew "Yeah." "Uh, look, man, this paper's like half our grade, so if you don't mind helping us out—" "Uh, look, man...no." 

She turns around to Andrew "I'm gonna hit him in his face I swear." Andrew hits her on the arm. He steps in front of her and opens his wallet and pulls out some twenties. He lays a few of them, at least five, down on Fred's desk, Fred picks them up "Follow me." he walks away, Andrew goes to follow him but Averie grabs his arm "Dude, I earned that money." "You won it in a poker game." "Yeah, that's earning it." He follows Fred "Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." "More than that. They practically liquefied." "Any sign of a struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" "Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone." "What's the official cause of death." "Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure." Andrew stands there confused "What do you mean?" "Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen." "The eyes&mash what would cause something like that?" "Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims." Averie smiles "Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" "That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor." "Think we could take a look at that police report? You know for, uh...our paper." "I'm not really supposed to show you that." Fred smirks, Andrew angrily pulls out his wallet and hands him another $20.

~~

They walk to the Impala "Might not be one of ours. Might just be some freak medical thing." Andrew says "How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Averie says "Uh, almost never." "Exactly." "Alright, let's go talk to the daughter." 

~~

Andrew and Averie walk into the funeral. There is a picture of Steven Shoemaker on the desk. The attendees are all men in black suits, and women in black dresses, except them, Averie looks around "Feel like we're underdressed." she says as they walk into the backyard, where Donna and Lily are sitting with Donna's friends, Jill, and Charlie. "You must be Donna, right?" Andrew asks "Yeah." "Hi, uh—we're really sorry." "Thank you." "I'm Andrew, this is Averie. We worked with your dad." she looks at Charlie then back at Andrew "You did?" Averie nods "Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke." Charlie glares at them "I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now." Donna looks at her "It's okay. I'm okay." Averie frowns "Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" "No?" Lily turns around "That's because it wasn't a stroke." Donna kneels down next to Lily "Lily, don't say that." Andrew stands there confused "What?" "I'm sorry, she's just upset." "No, it happened because of me." "Sweetie, no it didn't." He gets eye level with her "Why would you say something like that?" "Right before he died, I said it." "Said what?" "Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror. She took his eyes, that's what she does." Donna sighs "That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault." "I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" Averie asks "No, I don't think so." 

Andrew pushes open the bathroom door, there's still dried blood on the floor, "The Bloody Mary legend...Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" "Not that I know of." Averie says stepping into the bathroom, he kneels and touches the blood "I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody dies from it." "Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's actually happening." "The place where the legend began?" she shrugs and opens the medicine cabinet"But according to the legend, the person who says B—" he stands up and comes face to face with the mirror "The person who says you know what gets it. But here-" "Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." "Right." "Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out." "It's worth checking in to."

Andrew and Averie walk out of the bathroom as Charlie walks down the hall "What are you doing up here?" "We—we, had to go to the bathroom." "Sure you did, Who are you?" Charlie asks "Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad." Averie says "He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself." "No, I know, I meant—" "And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming." "All right, all right. We think something happened to Donna's dad." Andrew cuts in "Yeah, a stroke." "That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." "Like what?" "Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." "So, if you're gonna scream, go right ahead." Averie says glaring at Charlie "Who are you, cops?" Andrew looks over his shoulder at Averie "Something like that." "I'll tell you what. Here." he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a paper and pen, and starts writing down his cell number. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary...just give us a call." he hands her the paper as he and Averie walk down the hall.

~~

They walk into a library, Averie steps in front of Andrew "All right, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some sort of proof—Like a local woman who died nasty." "Yeah but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like 50 versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." "All right so what are we supposed to be looking for?" "Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers—public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill." "Well, that sounds annoying." Andrew smiles as they walk into the computer area "No it won't be so bad, as long as we..." he looks at all the computers labeled 'out of order' and chuckles "I take it back. This will be very annoying."

~~

Charlie is driving her car and talking to Jill on the phone "I'm not sure. They were cops or detectives or something." "Well, I don't care what they are, the guy was cute." "Jill." "You didn't think so?" "Yeah okay, he was cute. Still, do you think something happened to Donna's Dad?" "Maybe LILY was right. Maybe Bloody Mary got him." Jill says sarcastically "Ha ha, very funny." "Wait, I'm sorry. Was that fear I hear in your voice?" "No." "Charlie, I'm walking to the bathroom mirror right now." "Jill quit it." "Oh no, I can't help myself. I'm gonna say it. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." there's silence "Jill?" Jill screams, then starts laughing "You're such a freak, I'll call you in the morning." 

Jill hangs up, she walks over to her closet, she opens the door, and on the inside, there is a mirror, where Bloody Mary is standing behind her. She closes the closet door and goes to sit down at her vanity, where of course there is another mirror. Bloody Mary stands there she takes her earrings out, and then she's there again when Jill walks in front of her TV screen. Jill goes back to the bathroom to wash her face, but as she bends down to wash, her reflection in the mirror stays standing. She looks up and sees her reflection looking at her as if it were another person. Jill starts panicking as the reflection in the mirror starts oozing blood out of its eyes. She reaches up and feels blood on her own face. "You did it. You killed that boy." her reflection says, she falls to the ground as her reflection continues looking at her and repeating "You did it. You killed that boy."

~~

 _ **The flames burst around Hannah, Andrew's laying on the bed, "Why Andy? Why?" she asks.**_ Andrew sits up "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" "Because, I'm an awesome sister. So what'd you dream of?" "Lollipops and candy canes." he says sarcastically. "Yeah, sure." "Did you find anything?" "Oh besides a whole new level of frustration? No. I've looked at everything. A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but uh, no Mary." he falls back onto the bed "Maybe we just haven't found it yet." "I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know...eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Andrew's phone rings and he answers it "Hello?"

~~

Charlie sits on a park bench, Averie sits on the back, Andrew just stands next to Averie "And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her—her eyes. They were gone." Charlie says "I'm sorry." "And she said it. I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?" "No, you're not insane." Averie says "Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse." "Look. We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained." Andrew says "And we're gonna stop it but we could use your help." Averie says

~~

Charlie walks into Jill's room, she locks the door, walks over to the window, and opens it. Andrew climbs in first, then helps Averie climb in "What did you tell Jill's mom?" "Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things." he pulls out a digital camera, Averie stands there and turns the night vision on, Charlie sighs " I hate lying to her." "Trust us, this is for the greater good. Hit the lights." Averie says "What are you guys looking for?" she says turning off the lights "We'll let you know as soon as we find it." he looks at Averie through the camera "Perfect." "Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Averie says smiling. He walks away, he opens Jill's closet door and begins filming around the mirror. "So I don't get it. I mean...the the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" he asks "Beats me." Averie mutters. He closes the closet doors, Averie looks at Charlie "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place." "It's just a joke." "Yeah well somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time." Andrew is in the bathroom filming around the mirror when he stops and sees trickles of something running out from behind the mirror, "Hey, there's a blacklight in the trunk, right?"  
He carries the mirror out to Jill's bed and lays it on the bed upside down. Averie throws him a black light. He peels off the brown paper that is on the back of the mirror and shines the black light over the back of the mirror and there's a handprint, and the words "Gary Bryman." Charlie steps back "Gary Bryman?" "You know who that is?" "No."

~~

Averie and Charlie are sitting on a grassy hill, Andrew walks up behind them "So, Gary Bryman was an 8-year-old boy. Two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver." "Oh my god!" Charlie says "What?" "Jill drove that car." "We need to get back to your friend Donna's house." Averie says looking at Andrew

~~

Andrew and Averie are hunched over the back of the mirror with a black light. There is a handprint on it, and the words "Linda Shoemaker". They walk downstairs "Is Linda Shoemaker your mother?" Andrew asks "Why are you asking me this?" Donna asks "Look, we're sorry, but it's important." "Yeah. Linda's my mom okay? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident, and that's it. I think you should leave." "Now Donna, just listen." Averie says "Get out of my house!" she yells before running upstairs. "Oh my God. Do you think her dad could've killed her mom?" Charlie asks, Andrew frowns "Maybe." "I think I should stick around." "All right. Whatever you do, don't—" "Believe me, I won't say it." he nods, she walks up the stairs, they leave.

~~

Averie lays on a bed on a computer, Andrew stands in front of a bulletin board with things pinned to it, he looks over at Averie "Wait, wait, wait, you're doing a nationwide search?" "Yep. The NCIC, the FBI database—at this point, any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me." "But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town." "I'm telling you there's nothing local, I've checked. So unless you got a better idea—" "The way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern." "I know, I was thinking the same thing." "With Mister Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run." she nods "Both had secrets where people died." "Right. I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors-that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them." She sits up smiling "Right, right. So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it, and punishes you for it." "Whether you're the one that summoned her or not." she pushes the computer to him "Take a look at this." its a picture of a woman laying in blood, in front of a mirror. She prints a second picture of a bloody handprint with the words "Tre". "Looks like the same handprint." Andrew says "Her name was Mary Worthington—an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Averie says

~Fort Wayne, Indiana~

They sit in front of a detective that worked on the Mary Worthington case, "I was on the job for 35 years-detective for most of that. Now everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder—that one still gets me." "What exactly happened?" "You boys said you were reporters?" Averie mutters something to herself, she's misgendered mostly because of her short hair, "We know Mary was 19, lived by herself. We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress. And we know the night of March 29th someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife." "That's right." "See sir, when we asked you what happened, we wanted to know what you think happened." the detective turns around and pulls files out of the cabinet "Technically I'm not supposed to have a copy of this." he opens the file " Now see that there? T-R-E?" "Yeah?" Averie says "I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." "You know who it was?" "Not for sure. But there was a local man, a surgeon-Trevor Sampson. And I think he cut her up good." "Now why would he do something like that?" Andrew asks,

Averie tilts her head and looks at the pictures "Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing. She called him by his initial, "T". Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell "T"'s wife about their affair." "Yeah, but how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" she asks "It's hard to say, but the way her eyes were cut out...it was almost professional." "But you could never prove it?" "No. No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous." "Is he still alive?" "Nope." the detective sighs and continues "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could." Andrew looks at the ground "Where's she buried?" "She wasn't. She was cremated." Averie points to the mirror in the picture "What about that mirror, it's not in some evidence lockup somewhere, is it?" "Ah, no. It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago." "You have the names of her family by any chance?"

~ Toledo, Ohio~

"I mean, you bring these strangers into my house and they ask me things like that?" Donna asks Charlie as they stand in the school bathroom "They were only trying to help. Please, Donna, you have to believe me." "What? About Bloody Mary?" they step in front of the mirror "Please, I know it sounds crazy—" "Crazy doesn't even begin to cover it. I mean it's one thing for my sister to believe this crap, she's 12. But you?" "Think about the way your Dad died, okay? And the way Jill died." "Okay, fine then!" Donna turns to the mirror "Bloody Mary." "No!" "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. See? Nothing happened." "Why would you do that?" "Oh my God. There really is something wrong with you." Donna says leaving the bathroom.

Charlie sits in a physics class, Mr. McLoughlin stands at the front of the room "Elements that lose electrons become positive ions, which are smaller than other atoms of the same element.." she gets bored and pulls out her makeup compact, she looks in the mirror and sees Bloody Mary, she screams. The class turns and looks at her, Mr. Mcloughlin goes over to her "Charlie, you okay?" She looks away at the window, sees the reflection of Mary in the window of the door, picks up a stool, and throws it through the window. "Charlie! stop it! What's wrong!? Just calm down." he says grabbing her to stop her from grabbing another stool. She looks at his glasses and sees Bloody Mary, "Ah!, Let me go!" Charlie pushes away from him and runs out of the classroom "Charlie!"

~Fort Wayne, Indiana~

Averie is driving the Impala, Andrew is on the phone "Oh really? Ah, that's too bad Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well maybe next time. All right, thanks." he hangs up "So?" "So that was Mary's brother. The mirror was in the family for years, until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques. A store in Toledo." "Wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?" "Her spirit's definitely tied up with it somehow." Averie thinks for a moment "Isn't there an old superstition that says mirrors can capture spirits?" "Yeah there is. Yeah, when someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped." "So Mary dies in front of a mirror, and it draws in her spirit." "Yeah, but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?" "I don't know, but if the mirror is the source, I say we find it and smash it." "Yeah, I don't know, maybe." his phone rings and he answers it "Hello?" "Andrew? I need help." "Charlie?"

~Toledo, Ohio~

Andrew and Averie are covering the mirrors, and closing the curtains, Charlie is sitting on the bed with her head on her knees "Hey, hey it's ok. Hey, you can open up your eyes Charlie. It's okay, all right?" Andrew says, she slowly looks up, "Now listen. You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you." "But I can't keep that up forever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?" "No. No. Not anytime soon." Averie sits down next to her "All right Charlie. We need to know what happened." "We were in the bathroom. Donna said it." "That's not what we're talking about. Something happened, didn't it? In your life...a secret...where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?" "I had this boyfriend. I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said "Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself." And you know what I said? I said "Go ahead." And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just...I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." she puts her head on her knees and starts crying.

They drive in the rain to the antique shop, "You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault." "You know as well as I do spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Av. Charlie had a secret, someone died, that's good enough for Mary." "I guess." she says sighing "You know, I've been thinking. It might not be enough to just smash that mirror." "Why, what do you mean?" "Well, Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." Averie shakes her head "Well how do you know that's going to work?" "I don't, not for sure." "Well who's gonna summon her?" "I will. She'll come after me." "You know what, that's it. {she pulls the car over.} This is about Hannah, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow? Andrew, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me—It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place." "I don't blame you." "Well, you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done." 

He frowns "I could've warned her." "About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret, I mean I know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway." "No, you don't." "I don't what?" "You don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything." "Well it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?" "No. I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it." "Averie, that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it! And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. You've got to let me do this."

\--

Andrew picks the lock, they walk in, "Well...that's just great." Averie says noticing a light flashing that's apart of the alarm. He walks up to a mirror "Bloody Mary...Bloody Mary.." he looks over at Averie, who gives him a worried look "I'll be back." she says. He turns back to the mirror "Bloody Mary." he grips the crowbar tight, looks at the picture, and starts looking around for the mirror. Bloody Mary stares at him in the mirror, he doesn't see her. 

Averie stands outside as the police show up, "Hold it." the one officer says "Whoa guys, false alarm, I tripped the system." "Who are you?" "I'm the boss's kid." "You're Mister Yamashiro's kid?" she nods "Yeah, I know, I don't look like him at all." the officer glares at her.

Andrew sees Mary out of the corner of his eye and smashes the mirror with the crowbar. She is in a different one now, and he sees her and smashes that mirror too. He faces her mirror "Come on. Come into this one." he looks at his reflection, it stares back at him angrily, Andrew starts having trouble breathing and has a trickle of blood coming out of his eye. He drops the crowbar and grabs his heart "You did it, you killed Hannah!" he kneels on the ground "You killed her!"

"Like I said, I was adopted." Averie says frowning "Yeah." "You know, I just—I really don't have time for this right now." she says. She punches one cop, backhands the other, then punches the cop in front of her again, they lay on the ground. "Ow." she says shaking her hand, she walks into the shop. "Andy?" she calls out walking around.

"You never told her the truth—who you really were. But it's more than that, isn't it? Those nightmares you've been having of Hannah dying, screaming, burning—You had them for days before she died. Didn't you!?! You were so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams. How could you ignore them like that? How could you leave her alone to die!?! You dreamt it would happen!!!" Andrew has blood pouring from his eyes, he falls to the ground. Averie runs over and shatters the mirror "Andrew! Andy?" she says kneeling next to him, she rests his head in her lap for a moment "It's Andrew." he says weakly, smiling, "God, are you okay?" "Sort of." "Come on, come on." She pulls him up. She puts Andrew's arm over his neck, and they begin to walk out, until Mary (much like Samara coming out of the TV in The Ring) comes out of the frame of the mirror. They turn around to see her crawling over the broken glass. Mary walks towards them and they both fall to the ground. They both start bleeding from the face, but Averie reaches up and pulls over a mirror so that Mary is forced to see her own reflection. "You killed them! All those people! You killed them!" Mary's reflection screams, she starts choking on blood, then melts into a pool of blood. Averie smiles at Andrew "Hey Andy?" "Yeah." "This has got to be like...what? 600 years of bad luck?" he chuckles slightly.

~~

Averie and Andrew drive the Impala, Charlie is in the backseat "So this is really over?" Charlie asks, Averie nods "Yeah, it's over." they park in front of a house, Andrew turns around "Charlie? Your boyfriend's death...you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." she smiles, Averie turns around "Stay safe." "I will, thank you." she gets out. Averie turns back around "That was good advice." she says as they drive away "But, Andy?" "Yeah?" "Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret is." he looks at her "Look...you're my sister and I'd die for you, but there are some things I need to keep to myself." he looks out the window and sees Hannah standing in a white nightgown behind a pole, as the car turns the corner, she disappears behind the pole.


	7. Skin

A police officer runs over to a woman tied to a chair, bloody, "t's ok. It's ok." once free she points to a room across the hall "In there! In there!" the S.W.A.T team runs over to the door and kicks it open, a woman stands there about to open the doors to the balcony " Freeze! Don't move! Drop the knife. Keep your hands where I can see 'em. Drop it! Hold it right there! Do it!" the woman turns around, the light shines on her face, it's Averie.

~One Week Earlier~

Averie and Andrew pull into a gas station "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." she says, he ignores her, "Andrew wears women's underwear." "I've been listenin', I'm just busy." he says, continuing to read e-mails on his PalmPilot "Busy doin' what?" " Reading e-mails." She gets out of the car and starts filling the car with gas "E-mails from who?" "From my friends at Stanford." "You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" he turns and looks at her "Why not?" "Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?" "I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big sister. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Hannah." "So you lie?" "No, I just don't tell them everything." "Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse." she gets into the car "So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" Averie shrugs "You're serious?" he says " Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period." "You're kind of anti-social, you know that?" "Yeah, whatever." she starts the car, he goes back to reading e-mails.

"God...." Andrew says "What?" "In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine-" Averie cuts him off "Is she hot?" he ignores her "I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." "Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?" "I know Zack. He's no killer." she smirks "Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." "They're in St. Louis. We're goin'." Averie chuckles "Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." " It is our problem. They're my friends." "St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Andy." he looks at her.

~Rebecca's house, St. Louis~

Andrew knocks on the door, Averie stands next to him, Rebecca opens it "Oh my God, Andrew!" "Well, if it isn't little Becky." "You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." she smiles and they hug. "I got your e-mail." "I didn't think that you would come here." Averie steps forward "I'm Averie, his older sister." she puts her hand out, Rebecca shakes it "Hi." He smiles "We're here to help. Whatever we can do." "Come on in." she says, they walk in, Averie shuts the door behind them. "Nice place." "It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free." "Where are your folks?" Andrew asks, "They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." they enter the kitchen "Do you guys want a beer or something?" Averie smiles "Yea-" "No, thanks. So, tell us what happened." "Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." she starts crying " So, he called 911, and the police—they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police—they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." 

He frowns "You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house." "We could." Averie mutters "Why? I mean, what could you do?" "Well, me, not much. But Averie's a cop." she laughs "Detective actually." "Really? Where?" "Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off-duty now." "You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just—I don't know." Andrew looks at her "Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." "Okay. I'm gonna go get the keys." she walks away, down the hall. Averie pulls Andrew into the living room "Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends." "Look, Zack and Becky need our help." "I just don't think this is our kind of problem." "Two places at once? We've looked into less." Averie rolls her eyes and says nothing.

~Zach's house~

Averie and Andrew enter and look around. The furniture and walls of the house are smeared with blood, Rebecca stays on the porch steps. "Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Andrew asks "No. I wanna help." she ducks under the tape and walks in. "Tell us what else the police said." "Well, there's no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers—they're already talking about plea bargain.." she looks around the room "Oh, God...." he looks at her "Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" "Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zack's clothes. The police—they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." Andrew nods and walks away, Averie opens the back door and sees the neighbor's dog, barking loudly. Rebecca comes up behind her "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." "What happened?" "He just changed." "Do you remember when he changed?" "I guess around the time of the murder." she looks at her, smiles, and walks to Andrew.

Andrew stands in the hallway, looking at a picture of him, Zach, and Rebecca on his 21st birthday. Averie comes up behind him "So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed." "Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." he says "Yeah, maybe Fido saw somethin'." "So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?" "No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure." "Yeah." "Yeah.." Rebecca walks over to them, Averie looks at her "So, the tape. The security footage—you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction." "I've already got it. I didn't wanna say something in front of the cop. I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself." Averie laughs, and mouths to Andrew "I love the people you hang with." Andrew stares at Rebecca and smiles "All right."

~Alex's house~

Zack is sitting on a bench across the street from a house. He watches an Asian man, Alex, comes out of the house with his wife, Lindsey. "Why do they always have to send you?" Lindsey asks frowning "Because I'm the best." "I know. That's why I want you to stay at home." "It's just Kansas City. I'll be home tomorrow night and make it up to you." she smiles, they share a passionate kiss. Alex gets into his car and drives off, Zach watches as Lindsey goes back into the house. He smiles wickedly as his eyes glint silver for a moment before going back to normal.

~Rebecca's house~

Averie, Andrew, and Rebecca are watching the security film. It shows Zach walking into his house, Averie looks at the time "22:04, (10:04) that's just after ten. You said time of death was about 10:30." "Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." Andrew notices his eyes on the tape "Hey Bec, can we have those beers now?" "Oh, sure." she stands up to leave "Maybe some sandwiches, too?" "What do you think this is, Hooters?" she says playfully, she smiles and leaves. "I wish." Averie mutters, she gets out of the recliner and sits next to Andrew "What is it?" "Check this out." he rewinds the tape. _Zach looks directly at the camera, his eyes are silver._ Andrew pauses the tape, Averie rolls her eyes "Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." "That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." "Right." "Remember that dog that was freakin' out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him." "Like a doppelganger." "Yeah. It'd sure explain how he was two places at once."

~Alex's house~

Alex walks into the house "Honey, it's me. Flight canceled at the last minute." he sits his briefcase down, Lindsey doesn't respond, "Lindsay?" he walks into the living room "Lindsay?" he turns around and sees blood on the door, he runs over and opens the door, "Lindsey!?" She is tied to a chair, beaten and bloody. Alex rushes over to her and kneels next to her taking the gag out of her mouth. "It's ok, Lindsay, it's me." she screams "Please, don't hurt me anymore! Leave me alone!" he stays there shocked, there's a noise in the other room, he leaves to check it out. He sees himself standing there with a baseball bat, the double's eyes glow silver and he hits the original Alex in the head.

~Zach's house~

"Alright, so what are we doin' here at 5:30 in the morning?" Averie asks yawning "I realized something. The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out." Andrew says "So, he came out the back door?" she says leaning against the Impala. "Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue." he starts looking around as she sits on the Impala's hood "'Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doin' here at 5:30 in the morning." he sees blood smeared on the telephone pole "Blood. Somebody came this way." "Yeah, but the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." an ambulance passes, they share a look before getting into the car.

~Alex's house~ 

Averie and Andrew stand there as the police bring Alex out of the house, Averie turns to a lady next to her "What happened?" "He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." "Really?" "I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." they watch as he is taken away. Later, Andrew walks at the side of the house, as he walks out front Averie comes up behind him "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" he turns around "Yeah?" "Definitely our kind of problem." "What'd you find?" "Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. The dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." "So, he was two places at once." "Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob." "Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in the same way." "Could be the same thing doin' it, too." 

Andrew stands there for a minute "Shapeshifter?" Averie shrugs "Something that can make itself look like anyone?" "Every culture in the world has shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men." "Right, skinwalkers, werewolves." "We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowlin' the neighborhood." "Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" "Not that I know of." He starts walking to the back door, "I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way." Averie smiles "Just like your friend's house." "Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared." "Well, there's another way to go—down." she says looking at a manhole cover below them.

~Sewer~

"I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Andrew says "I think you're right. Look at this." they kneel and examine a pile of flesh and blood. Averie takes her pocket knife and lifts some of the skin "Is this from its victims?" he asks, she looks up at him "You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds." "That's just sick.." she puts the skin down and stands up "And disgusting." she mutters as she wipes the knife off.

~The Impala~

Averie opens the trunk, holding it open with a shotgun, she pulls out two handguns loaded with silver bullets. "Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." "Silver bullet to the heart." "That's right." she says, Andrew's phone rings, he answers it "Hello?." "Where are you?" Rebecca asks "We're near Zack's, we're just checkin' some things out." "Well, look, Andrew, just stop, 'cause I really don't need your help anymore." "What are you talkin' about?" "I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene." he scoffs "Why would you do that?" "Well, I told them that we were with a police officer. And they checked it out, and they told me that there is no Detective Averie Walker." "Bec—" "No, I don't understand why you would lie to me about something like that." "We're tryin' to help." "Oh, trying to help? Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zack's case." "Bec, I'm sorry, but—" "No, goodbye, for good." she hangs up. 

He puts the phone away, Averie shakes her head "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just—it'd be easier if—" "If I were like you." "Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain't without perks." She hands him a gun, he puts it in the back of his jeans, they walk over to the manhole cover.

~Sewer~

They walk together shining their flashlights, "I think we're close to its lair." Averie says "Why do you say that?" "Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face." he turns and sees another pool of blood and skin next to him "Oh God!" he yells backing away, Averie laughs and continues walking. He jogs to catch up with her "Looks like it's lived here for a while." she says, he sees the pile of clothes in the corner, "Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" he turns back to Averie. The shapeshifter, still in the form of Alex, is standing behind her "Av, behind you!" she turns and gets punched by it, she falls to the ground as it runs away. He runs over to her "Averie?" she groans and looks at him "Get the son of a bitch!" They get up and chase it, Andrew fires a few shots at it, it climbs out of the sewer. Once they climb out, it's gone "Let's split up." Averie says. 

Andrew goes into the one alley, it's empty, he pulls out his gun "Anyone here?" he says, there's nothing, its weirdly quiet. Averie comes down the alley "Andy, find it?" "No, he's gone.""All right, let's get back to the car." they start walking to the Impala. Averie stops for a moment as Andrew crosses the street, her eyes glow silver for a split second. She walks over to him, he stands leaning against the Impala "You think he found another way underground?" she shakes her head "Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" He stops for a second and turns to face 'Averie' "Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" "Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought-form. A psychic projection, remember?" "Oh, right. Here ya go." he throws the keys to her and walks to the front of the Impala. 

She opens the trunk and observes all the weapons smiling "Don't move!" Andrew yells, Averie turns and looks at him "What have you done with her?" "Dude, chill. It's me, all right?" "No, I don't think so. Where's my sister?" "You're about to shoot her Andrew, calm down." "You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt." "Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do, cry?" "You're not my sister." it looks at him and smiles "Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me." it steps forward "Don't!" it pauses before hitting him in the head with a crowbar.

~Unknown place~

Andrew wakes up in a dingy, dusty room, his neck and hands are bound to a wooden post "Where is she? Where's Averie?" "I wouldn't worry about her. I'd worry about you." the shifter says "Where is she!" "You don't really wanna know." it chuckles "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background." "What do you mean _learn_?" the shifter stops and grabs it's head in pain, a memory from years ago is stuck in its head _"Andy, don't leave us, please." Averie says tearing up, Andrew looks at her "I'm sorry, but I'm done hunting, and I'm going to college. This is what I want." as he leaves Ethan screams "If you leaving, then stay gone!" a different memory flashes in its head, this time it's a memory from when Averie was 16, Andrew was 12. She sat on the couch as he slept "I wish Dad loved me, but he has Andrew."_ Andrew stares at the shifter confused "She's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. She had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?" "Where is my sister!" it leans into his face "I am your sister. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me." "What are you talkin' about?" "You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin', just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks." she smirks "I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Averie would bang her if she had the chance. Let's see what happens." it covers him with a sheet.

~Rebecca's house~

The shifter knocks on her door, Rebecca opens it "Hi." she says coldly "I know what you're gonna say." "Oh. You do?" "Well, no, not exactly. But I can take a guess. Get off my porch?" she fake laughs "That's about right." "I admit it, we lied. Thought I'd try to explain myself. Andrew told me not to come, but, you know, I thought, what the hell, I have to try." it smiles.

~Unknown~

Andrew trys to get out of his ropes and fails "Damn it." he mutters, there's movement in another area of the room, somebody starts coughing. It stops "Andy, that better be you and not that freak of nature." Averie says, he laughs "Yeah, it's me." she uncovers herself and starts undoing the ropes "It went to Rebecca's lookin like you." he says "Well, it's not stupid. Picked the cute one." Andrew shakes his head and starts retrying to undo his ropes.

~Rebecca's house~

They sit in the living room on the couch "So, you're saying that there's something out there that made itself look like my brother." "Mmhmm." "What'd you call it?" "A shapeshifter." Rebecca laughs and rolls her eyes. The shifter frowns "Yeah, maybe we're crazy. But what if we're not? I mean, look, you said it yourself that Zack was in two places at once. Now, tell me how that can happen." "Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody?" "That's right." she chuckles "Well, what is it, like a genetic freak?" it lightly laughs out of sadness "Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else" Rebecca looks around uncomfortably.

~Unknown~

"Yeah, that's the thing. it didn't just look like you, it was you. Or was becoming you." Averie throws her rope down and runs over to Andrew to help with his rope, "What do you mean?" "I don't know, it was like it was downloading your thoughts and memories." she pulls his rope off, he stands up "You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?" "Yeah, somethin' like that. I mean, maybe that's why it doesn't just kill us." "Maybe it needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection." "Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. It's probably at Rebecca's already." They run down a hallway, Andrew opens a window, Averie climbs out first onto a street. Once they're both out he stands there for a minute "Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're gonna put an APB out on me?" she asks "Sorry." he says shrugging "This way.."

~Rebecca's house~

"It's funny. I kind of understand him. He's all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He's like me." 'he' says, Rebecca looks at him scared "You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It's so hard to be different." he tucks her hair behind her ear, she smiles "You should go.." he leans in and whispers something into her ear, she pushes away and stands up "You are disgusting, just get the hell out of here!" "Rebecca, calm down." he says standing up "Calm down? What is wrong with you?" "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" she backs away from him and grabs the phone "I'm calling the cops.." The shapeshifter walks over to her and throws the phone to the floor. She screams and tries to run away, but he trips her and she falls to the ground. He straddles her legs and begins tying her hands with the telephone cord. "Stop moving your hands!" she continues screaming "Shut up!"

Rebecca is tied up in a chair, bloody and beaten "You're a nice girl, Rebecca. I mean, I liked you. Believe me, that makes this harder." he says holding up a knife and examining it "But I gotta do what I gotta do." he moves close to her, suddenly there's a loud crash from the other room. Rebecca tries screaming but the shifter covers her mouth and holds the knife to her throat "Shh." He walks up to the door and peaks out, the S.W.A.T team has their backs turned, he runs from the one room into the second bedroom. The shifter enters and closes the door, looking around frantically. He moves to a set of doors leading out to a balcony. Just as he opens the doors, the S.W.A.T team enters. "Freeze! Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Drop the knife!" the one officer yells. He throws the knife at the police officer, and the rest of the team begins shooting, he kicks one of the men, then goes outside and jumps off the balcony, onto the grass below. "Come on! Come on! Go! Go!" 

~Street~

Averie and Andrew stand in front of a store window, watching a news report that is being shown on a display of televisions. "An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white female, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." a sketch of Averie appears on the screen. "Man! That's not even a good picture." she mumbles, Andrew looks around cautiously "It's good enough." he says walking away, she follows.

They walk into an alley, she's still complaining about the APB, Andrew stops "Come on. It said attempted murder, so at least we know-" "I didn't kill her!" "We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's all right." "All right, but first I wanna find that cute devil and kick the holy crap out of her." she says "We have no weapons. No silver bullets." he says sighing "Andy, the girl's walkin' around with my face, okay, it's a little personal, I wanna find her." He looks around "Okay. Where do we look?" "Well, we could start with the sewers." "We have no weapons. He stole our guns, we need more. The car?" "I'm bettin' he drove over to Rebecca's." "The news said he fled on foot. I bet it's still parked there." Averie looks at Andrew with a upset look "The thought of her drivin' my car." "Come on." they start walking "It's killin me." "Let it go Av."

~Rebecca's house~

They walk beside the house, Averie sees the Impala "Oh, there she is! Finally, something went right tonight." she wines smiling, a cop car pulls in front of the Impala "Oh crap." They turn around, but another police car is parked a few yards away. "This way." she starts running to a fence. Andrew stays "You go. I'll hold 'em off." "What are you talking about? They'll catch you." "Look, they can't hold me. Just go, keep out of sight. Meet me back here later." she climbs over "Averie, stay out of the sewers alone." "Yeah, Yeah.." she says running off. "Don't move! Keep your hands where I can see 'em." he raises his hands and kneels on the ground.

Averie digs through the Impala's trunk "I'm sorry, Andy. But you know me—I just can't wait." she pulls out a gun and loads it with silver bullets. "I'm that kind of person. Always will be."  
  


~Sewer~

Averie walks around, he comes across a chamber filled with candles and chains. Revolting piles of skin and blood are on the floor. She hears a noise and moves to another area of the sewer, there's a large figure covered with a sheet. She removes it and sees Rebecca, her hands and feet are bound together with rope. "Rebecca?" Rebecca whimpers and tries moving away from her.

~Rebecca's house~

Andrew's sitting on the couch, the shifter is now in the form of Rebecca, "So, say this shapeshifter is real. By the way, you know you're crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" he asks, Andrew turns and looks at him as he hands him a new beer "Silver bullet to the heart." he turns away, the shifter chuckles "You are crazy." before raising the bottle and knocking Andrew out with it. He falls over as the shifter smiles while his eyes glow silver.

~Sewer~

Averie unties Rebecca's ropes "What happened?" Averie asks "I was walking home, and everything just went white. Someone hit me over the head, and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don't know, how is that even possible?" she asks crying "Okay, okay. It's okay." She finishes untying her) "Come on. Can you walk?" she nods "Okay, we've gotta hurry. Andrew went to see you."

~Rebecca's house~

The shapeshifter has changed back into the form of Averie. He finishes tying up Andrew's hands and feet, then starts walking around the kitchen. "What are you gonna do to me?" "Oh, _I'm_ not gonna do anything. _Averie_ will, though." "They'll never catch her." "Oh, doesn't matter. Murder in the first of her own brother? She'll be hunted the rest of her life. Not to mention, the pain of losing her baby brother." he picks the knife up and looks at it before stepping in front of Andrew and cutting his cheek. "I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your sister's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate her more than you do." Andrew frowns, the shifter pours himself a drink "Cheers." He takes a sip, picks a knife up from the kitchen and stabs the edge of the pool table. Andrew swings his legs and kicks him, he falls as Andrew sits up and moves his ropes on the knife until they fall off. The shapeshifter gets up, and Andrew takes the knife and swings at him. He grabs his arm in mid-swing and twists it, Andrew falls to the ground "Oh you son of a bitch!" The shifter says, he and Andrew start to fight. He tries to pin "Averie" down. "Not bad, little brother." he glares at him "You're not her." 

They continue to fight, the shifter throws him across the room into the bookshelf, it collapses on top of him. "Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass." He grabs a pool cue and swings at Andrew but misses and hits a light fixture. After fighting for several more minutes, they fall onto a coffee table. The shapeshifter pins him to the floor and starts to choke him, "Hey!" Averie screams he turns and sees her and gets off of Andrew, she aims her gun and shoots him twice in the heart. Rebecca runs over to Andrew "Andy!" Averie walks over to the shifter and takes her necklace off of him, she puts it on before walking over to them.

~outside Rebecca's~

"So, this is what you do? You and your sister—you hunt down these kinds of things?" Rebecca asks, Averie stands at the Impala waiting for Andrew "Yeah, pretty much." "I can't believe it. I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school—nobody knows that you do this?" "No." "Did Hannah know?" he stands there for a minute "No, she didn't.." "Must be lonely." "No, it's not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It's my family." "Well, you know, Zack and me, and everybody at school—we really miss you." she hugs him "Yeah, me too" he pulls away. "Well, will you call sometime?" "It might not be for a little while." Rebecca looks at Averie and waves goodbye before going into the house.

Andrew walks over to Averie "So, what about your friend, Zack?" "Cops are blamin' this Averie Walker girl for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says Zack will be released soon." 

~Impala~

"Sorry, man." Averie says starting the car "About what?" "I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be....Joe College." "No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." he fakes a smile " Well, that's 'cause you're a freak." "Thanks." "Well, I'm a freak, too. I'm right there with ya, all the way." Andrew laughs "Yeah, I know you are." "You know, I gotta say—I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." "Miss what?" "How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" She smiles looking over at him he chuckles and looks out the window.


	8. Hook Man

~College Dorm~

Taylor sits on the bed, Lori stands looking in the mirror looking at her dress "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Taylor says "There's nothing you wouldn't do." she grabs her purse and leaves the room. "That's true." Taylor says smiling to herself.

~9 mile road~

Lori's boyfriend, Rich, and her pull into over onto the side of the road. Standing behind the trees there's a tall figure with a hook. "I thought we were going to the party." Lori says "Well, we can't arrive on time." "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you brought me here on purpose." he fakes a shocked look "What? I'm offended." she smiles and sarcastically says "Yeah, I'm sure." they start kissing. Lori's phone goes off, they reluctantly pull apart, she looks at the caller ID ' _Dad Calling_ ' "You wanna get that?" "Definitely not." she turns the ringer off. They continue kissing, Rich slides his hand under her holster strap, she pulls away and moves his hand away. He looks at her "It's okay." Lori looks uncomfortable, outside the hooked figure starts moving slowly out of the trees. Rich starts kissing Lori's neck before putting his hand under her strap again, she looks even more uncomfortable and backs away "I mean it."

They hear a loud screeching sound, the figure is dragging the hook across the Dead End sign. "What was that?" Lori asks "I don't know." they hear the sound again, but closer, the figure is now close to the car scraping the 9 mile road sign. "What is that?!" he opens the car door "Rich, no!" he turns to her " No, just wait here." He gets out of the car and shuts the door. As he is looking around he hears more screeching. He turns to see a long scratch being made on the side of his car, but the Hook Man is invisible. "What the hell?" Lori looks at him "Rich, let's go!" the back tire is punctured, she screams "Rich?" Rich is gone, she rolls the windows up and locks the doors "Rich, where are you?!" there's suddenly scratching and banging on the roof.

She screams and climbs into the backseat, she lays on the ground, the noise stops. "Okay, Okay.." she mutters to herself, she gets out starts running away when she sees Rich. He's suspended from a tree upside down, above the car, she starts crying "Rich, no!"

~Outdoor Cafe~

Andrew stands at a payphone "Alright, thank you for your time." he hangs up and walks over to the table, Averie is sitting working on the computer "Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis." she says mockingly "Oh, bite me." "I would but we're siblings." she smiles "Shut up Jerk." "Bitch." he sits down. She looks at him "So anything?" "I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations." "Andy, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." he looks disappointed "Check this out." she shows him an article on the computer about Rich's death. "It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here."

Andrew starts reading "The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road." "Keep reading." "Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible." he shrugs "Could be something interesting." Averie says "Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." "But what if it is? Dad would check it out."

~Frat House. Ankeny, Iowa~

Andrew and Averie get out of the Impala, the frat boys look at them confused "One more time, why are we here?" he asks "Victim lived here." They walk up to some guys fixing a car, "Nice wheels." Averie says, they look at her strangely "We're your fraternity brothers. From Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers. Looking for a place to stay." Andrew says, the one boy smirks at Averie "You can stay with me." she chuckles "Sorry but I don't swing that way." as she walks away Andrew chuckles as he follows behind. 

They walk into somebody's dorm room, A shirtless frat boy in yellow shorts is painting his face and body purple. He sees them "Who are you?" "We're your new roommates." she smiles and walks over to the boy. He holds the brush and paint can out to her "Do me a favor? Get my back. Big game today." she points over at Andrew "He's the artist. Things he can do with a brush." Andrew looks mortified, but still takes the brush and can. Averie sits down on the bed and picks up a magazine to read the name "Murph. Is it true?" "What?" she sits the magazine down and looks at him "We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week." he frowns "Yeah.." Andrew nods "What happened?" "They're saying some psycho with a knife. Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy." "Rich he was with somebody?" "Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen." Averie sighs "Who's Lori Sorensen?" she points to the lower back of Murph "You missed a spot. Just down there >on the back." he glares at her, she smirks "Lori's a freshman. She's a local. Super hot. And get this: she's a reverend's daughter." "You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?"

~Church~

Rev. Sorensen stands at the altar "Our hearts go out to the family of a young man who perished. And my personal prayers of thanks go out as well because I believe he died trying to protect my daughter." Lori looks embarrassed "And now, as time heals all our wounds, we should reflect on what this tragedy means. To us, as a church." Averie and Andrew walk in, the doors slam behind them, the congregation goes silent and turns to look at them. "as a community, and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings." They sit next to Lori, she stares at Andrew and he gives her a weak smile. "So, please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children." everyone bows their head to pray, except Averie, he elbows her, she looks around and does the same.

~outside Church~

Lori and Taylor are standing together "I can't. It's Sunday night." "It's just us girls. We're gonna do tequila shots and watch Reality Bites." "My dad makes dinner every Sunday night." Taylor rolls her eyes "Come on, Lori. I know this has been hard, but you are allowed to have fun." "I'll try." "Okay." they hug and Taylor walks away. Andrew and Averie walk over to her "Are you Lori?" he asks "Yeah." "Well, my name's Andrew, this is my sister Averie." Averie waves "Hi." "We just transferred here to the university." "I saw you inside, we sat together." "We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..." "We wanted to say how sorry we were." Averie finishes, he frowns "I kind of know what you're going through. I-I saw someone..get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Lori nods, Rev. Sorensen walks over "Dad, um, this is Andrew and Averie. They're new students." Averie shakes his hand "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon." "Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." she chuckles "Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually." she leads him away from Andrew and Lori. "And, uh, we were looking for a, um, a church group."

He turns to Lori "Tell me, Lori. What are the police saying?" they start walking together "Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that." "What do you mean?" "My story. I was so scared, I guess I was "seeing things"." they lock eyes for a second "That doesn't mean it wasn't real." 

~Library~

"So you believe her?" Averie asks "I do." "Yeah, I think she's hot, too." "No, man, there's something in her eyes. And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." "Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the—" "Hook Man legend." "That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man." she shifts in her seat "Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began." "Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" "Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?" she nods in agreement.

The librarian sits a few boxes in front of them "Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851." she smiles and walks away, Averie wipes some dust off a box and coughs "So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" "Welcome to higher education." they begin reading the records.

~few hours later~

"Hey, check this out. 1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Uh, right here, "some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh."" Andrew says, Averie puts another page down "Get this, the murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook." he points to a page "Look where all this happened." she leans over and reads "9 mile road." "Same place where the frat boy was killed." "Nice job, Dr. Venkman. Let's check it out." he gathers the papers they need and follows her.

~Lori's sorority house~

Rev. Sorensen parks "I know this is your first time really living alone since Mom died." "That's not it. I worry about you." "There are 22 girls in there, I'm perfectly safe." "That's exactly what I'm worried about. You don't think I know what goes on in there?" he says glaring "Dad, do we have to have this argument again? I'm over 18. I can live my own life." "Oh, which means, drinking, partying with that roommate of yours!" "I'm an adult. I can take care of myself. Good night." she gets out of the car and slams the door "Lori. Lori, come—Lori!" he yells as she goes in the house.

Lori walks up the stairs and stops at a girl's bedroom doorway. There is a long scratch on the wall leading up to the doorway. Inside, the girl is working at her computer, she ignores it and walks into her bedroom. She is about to turn on the light when she sees Taylor sleeping and stops herself. "Tay, you awake?" she doesn't move. Lori walks into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

~9 mile road~

Averie and Andrew dig through the trunk "Here you go." she hands him a shotgun "If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." "It's rock salt, idiot." "Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent." she takes out a coil of rope and shuts the trunk. "Yeah. It won't kill 'em. But it'll slow 'em down." they start walking to the trees "That's pretty good. You and Dad think of this?" "I told you. You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." there noises coming from the trees, they stop walking, Andrew looks around and cocks the gun. Averie whispers "Over there." while pointing.

He points the gun, a sheriff comes out of the trees "Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head." Averie stands there in shock "W-w-wait, okay, okay!" "Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" they drop to their knees "Now get on your stomachs! Do it!" Averie lays down "He had the gun!" she whines.

~Lori and Taylor bedroom~

Lori rolls over in her bed and opens her eyes. She sees a puddle of blood on the floor, she looks up and sees blood dripping from Taylor bed. She is dead there's blood everywhere, "Oh my god.." she screams, on the wall next to the bed it says " _Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?_ " written in blood, there's a large cross and four smaller crosses drawn next to it. She screams a second time "Taylor!"

~Calumet Co. Sheriff's Department~

Andrew and Averie walk out "Saved your ass! Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock." she says "But how?" "I told him you were a dumbass pledge and that we were hazing you." "What about the shotgun?" she smiles "I said that you were hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know, typical Hell Week prank." "And he believed you?" "Well, you look like a dumbass pledge." she says patting his shoulder. Several police officers run out and speed off in cars, they look at each other.

~Lori's sorority house~

Lori is wrapped in a blanket sitting in the back of a parked ambulance "I just want to take her home." Rev. Sorensen says "I understand that, Reverend. But Lori's now connected to two murders, and I can't ignore that." "Listen to me. Arrest her now, or let me take her home." the sheriff stands there for a moment "Make sure she's available for questioning." "Thank you." he walks over to Lori "Sweetheart, you ready to go home?" she stands up and starts walking. Averie and Andrew park the impala down the street, they get out and walk to the side of the house "Why would the Hook Man come here? This is a long way from 9 Mile Road." Andrew says "Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime. Maybe it's about something else." two girls walk out the side entrance but don't see them "Dude, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?" she asks smirking, she turns around and sees him trying to climb onto the balcony. She pushes him up, she then climbs up.

Once they get up, they climb in Lori's window, Averie slips and falls on Andrew "Oh sorry." "Be quiet." "You be quiet." Andrew walks out of the closet, Averie lags behind, the sheriff leaves the room. She looks at the writing on the wall "'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?' That's right out of the legend." "Yeah, that's classic Hook Man all right." he taps his nose trying to ignore the smell "It's definitely a spirit." Averie walks over to the window and looks out "Yeah, I've never smelled ozone this strong before." Andrew looks closer at the crosses "Hey, come here." she walks over, he points at the crosses "Does that look familiar to you?" she tilts her head slightly.

~Impala~

They stand next to the car looking at a picture of the cross they found that they found doing research, Andrew looks over at Averie "It's the same symbol. Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns." "All right, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down." he sighs reading a paper "'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave.'" they look at each other annoyed "Super.." "Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns. But we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why." she fakes a smile "I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this."

~College Party~

Averie walks away from the girl she was making out with and over to Andrew, he turns around "Hey." "Man, you've been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!" she winks at a passing girl "This wasn't really my experience." she rolls her eyes "Let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A's?" he nods "What a geek. Alright, you do your homework?" "Yeah. It was bugging me, right? So how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori? So I think I came up with something." he unravels a piece of paper. "1932. Clergyman arrested for murder. 1967. Seminarian held in hippie rampage." she reads "There's a pattern here. In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings carried out—get this—with a sharp instrument." " What's the connection to Lori?" 

Andrew sighs "A man of religion? Who openly preaches against immorality?" Averie looks up, he continues "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter." "Reverend Sorensen. You think he's summoning the spirit?" "Maybe. Or, you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?" "Yeah, the spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them, yeah, okay." he thinks for a moment "Without the reverend ever even knowing it." "Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight" he nods "What about you?" Averie looks over at the blonde guy staring at her and smirks then reluctantly says "I'm gonna go see if I can find that unmarked grave."

~Old North Cemetery~

Averie walks to the grave with crosses carved into the ground, she starts digging "That's it. Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house." she grunts and breaks through the casket. She stares at the remains "Hello Preacher." she pulls salt and lighter fluid out of her bag. She douses the remains in salt and fluid before igniting the lighter and lighting them on fire.

~Rev. Sorensen's house~

He watches as the light switches off, Lori walks outside and sits next to him "I saw you from upstairs. What are you doing here?" "I'm keeping an eye on the place. I was worried." she looks at him "About me?" "Yeah. Sorry." "No, it's cool. I already called the cops." she says jokingly, he laughs "No, seriously. I think you're sweet. Which is probably why you should run away from me as fast as you can." he frowns "Why would you say that?" "It's like I'm cursed or something. People around me keep dying." "I think I know how you feel." he says

"No one will talk to me anymore. Except you. The sheriff thinks I'm a suspect. And you know what my dad will say? Pray. Have faith. What does he know about faith?" "I heard you guys fighting before." "He's seeing a woman. A married woman. I just found out. She comes to our church with her husband. I know her kids. And he talks to me about religion? About morality? It's like, on one hand, you know, just do what you want and be happy. But he taught me, raised me to believe that if you do something wrong you will get punished. I just don't know what to think anymore." she hugs Andrew, she lets go and kisses him, they make out for a moment "Lori, i can't." he says pulling away "I'm sorry, so sorry." he stares at her "It's okay." 

Rev. Sorensen opens the front door "Lori? Come inside, please." she turns and looks at him "I'll come in when I'm ready." suddenly the Hook Man appears behind him and digs the hook into his shoulder. He screams, Andrew picks up his gun and runs to the house. He looks around and hears the Reverend screaming upstairs, he runs up and shoots the Hook Man in the side. It turns to face him, he shoots it again, Lori runs up the stairs to her Dad "Dad! Dad!" she cries, he reaches out and pats her head "I'll be okay sweetheart."

~Hospital~

Rev. Sorensen lays in the hospital bed, Lori stands next to him, Andrew is being questioned by the sheriff "We were just talking. Then Lori's dad came out. And then he appeared." He says "A big man? Carrying a weapon, some kind of hook?" "Yes, sir." "Ever seen him before?" "No, sir." "Son, it seems every time I turn around, I'm seeing you. I suggest you try to stay out of trouble" he nods. Averie and two officers are walking down the hall "No, it's alright, I'm with him. He's my brother." Andrew looks over and sees her, he sighs "Hey! Brother!" the sheriff turns and sees her, she smiles and waves. Sheriff Calvert looks at the officers "Let 'er through." she jogs down the hall and hugs him "Andy, you okay, what happened?" he lowers his voice "Hook Man." "You saw him?" "Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?" "What are you talking about, I did. You sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" he sighs "It sure as hell looked like him. And that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the reverend." "Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself." "I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman." 

Averie chuckles "So what?" "So she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished." "Ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?" Andrew nods "Right. Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair." "Remind me not to piss this girl off. But I burned those bones, I buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?" "You must have missed something." "No. I burned everything in that coffin." "Did you get the hook?" Averie tilts her head "The hook?" "Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was part of him." "So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power." "So if we find the hook.." "We stop the Hook Man." they say together.

~Library~

"Here's something, I think. Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary." Averie says, she starts reading the paper to Andrew "Karns, Jacob. Personal effects: disposition thereof." "Does it mention the hook?" "Yeah, maybe." she continues reading "Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church." "Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" "Yeah." "And where Lori lives?" she nods "Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past 200 years." "Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?" "Check the church records, I'll get us coffee."

-few hours later-

Andrew starts reading to Averie "St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged." he sighs "They melted it down. Made it into something else." she groans and throws some papers down. 

~St. Barnabas Church~

"Alright, we can't take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire." Averie says "I agree. So, Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in." "Alright, take your pick." "I choose house." "Okay." he starts walking away, she snaps her fingers "Hey!" he turns around "Stay out of her underwear drawer." he shakes his head and walks away.

~St. Barnabas Church, basement~

Averie is throwing all the silver into a fire, Andrew comes down the stairs "I got everything that even looked silver." "Better safe than sorry." he dumps the bag into the fire, she looks at the fire and smiles "we should be good, right?" "Yeah, that's all the silver we could find." they hear footsteps upstairs, Averie draws her gun. Andrew follows behind her, pulling his gun too.

They see Lori sitting alone in a pew crying, they put the guns away, Averie goes back downstairs as Andrew walks over to her "Lori?" she looks over at him "What are you doing here?" "What's wrong?" "I've been trying to understand what's been happening. Why? Now I know so I'm praying for forgiveness." he frowns "Forgiveness for what?" "Don't you see? I'm to blame for all this. I've read in the Bible about avenging angels." "Trust me, this guy—he's no angel." "I was so angry at my father. Part of me wanted him punished. And then he came and he punished him." "It's not your fault." "Yes, it is. I don't know how, but it is. I killed Rich. Taylor, too. I nearly killed my father." In the back of the church, the Hook Man appears for a moment then disappears quickly. "Lori.." "I can see it now. They didn't deserve to be punished. I do." They hear a noise come from the front of the church, the candles at the altar blow out.

"Come on. We gotta go." He leads her away and opens the door to the basement, but the Hook Man is behind it and pushes his hook through the door. "Go!" They run down the aisle and into a back room. The Hook Man follows them and smashes the glass of another door with his hook. He swings at Andrew a few times but misses. He chases the two of them around the room and finally hooks Andrew in the shoulder. He screams in pain and an invisible force drags Lori on her back across the floor. He runs over to her, "Come on. You okay?" The Hook Man appears and knocks him backwards into a wall. He gets up and maneuvers behind the Hook Man, who is standing over Lori. Averie suddenly enters with her gun raised "Andy, drop!" he drops and she shoots the Hook Man, he disappears into dust. "I thought we got all the silver." "So did I!" "We must've missed something." They look around, Andrew sees Lori's necklace "Lori, where did you get that chain?" "My father gave it to me." "Where'd your dad get it?" "He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school." "Is it silver?" "Yes." he rips it off and throws it to Averie, she throws him the rifle and rocksalt, then runs down and throws it into the fire.

Andrew aims the gun at the scratch that is being made and shoots, he quickly reloads the gun with rock salt. The Hook Man appears and knocks the rifle out of his hand. They crawl into the corner and watch the Hook Man tower over them, he pushes her behind him as the Hook Man erupts into flames. She starts crying, he turns and looks at her "It's over, you're safe now.."

~Outside~

The EMTs are patching Andrew and Lori up as the sheriff questions Averie "And you saw him, too? The man with the hook?" "Yes, I told you, we all saw him. We fought him off and then he ran." "And that's all?" "Yeah, that's all." Listen. You and your brother—" "Oh, don't worry, we're leaving town." she walks to the Impala, waiting for Andrew. Lori sits with him "You gonna be okay?" "Yeah." "I still don't know what happened. But I do know you saved my life. My father's, too. Thank you." he smiles and walks away without a word. He gets in the car "We could stay." Averie says, he shakes his head "Nah, I'm done with Collage." she looks in the rearview mirror and sees Lori frown, she shakes her head and drives off.


	9. Bugs

~Oasis Plains, Ohio~

Some construction workers are building a luxury home complex, Travis Weaver and Dustin Burwash are standing together "Man, these are some phat houses, huh? I'd like to live here." Travis says "Yeah, too bad you can't afford it." "Yeah, you're right. This neighborhood'll be damn expensive when it's done. This place is perfect." He smacks a bug on the side of his neck "Except for the mosquitoes." he looks around and sees the Dustin is gone. He can hear Dustin screaming for help. He turns and sees that he has fallen into a hole in the ground "Dustin!" he runs over to the hole. "Help me, I'm trapped! I broke my ankle!" "All right, I'll get a rope!" he leaves. Inside the hole, Dustin is clutching his bloody ankle, breathing heavily. He looks around nervously and sees that there are thousands of beetles inside the walls of the hole. Several of them have landed on his hand, and he frantically brushes them off. "Oh God."

Thousands of beetles start covering him, they gather in groups on his clothes and skin, "Travis, help!" "Hang on!" Travis grabs the rope and starts running over to the hole, Dustin is covered in beetles now "Travis!" he continues screaming as beetles climb in his nose and eyes. It's okay, Dustin! It's okay!" He runs back to the hole with supplies "Dustin? Dustin, I'm here!" He looks into the hole with a flashlight, horrified. "Oh, God." Inside the hole, Dustin is dead, he is bleeding heavily from the ears, nose, and eyes.

~Oklahoma Bar, Night~

Andrew sits in the Impala, the streetlight shining in so he can read the newspaper article about Dustin's death. Someone taps on the drivers side window, the door opens, Averie sticks her head in and throws a wad of money into his lap smiling and laughing. "You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." he says "Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap." "Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Av." "Well, lets see honest," she holds out one hand "Fun and easy." she holds out the other hand and gestures that Fun and Easy outweighs Honesty "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do." he sighs "Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked." "Yeah, says you. We got a new gig or what?" "Oasis Plains, Oklahoma - not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." "What?" "Human mad cow disease." she thinks for a minute "Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" "You watch Oprah?" he says smirking.

Averie gets embarrassed "So this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?" she tries changing the subject "Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less." "Okay, that's weird." "Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be somethin' much nastier." "All right. Oklahoma." she starts the car and mutters "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money."

~Oklahoma Gas and Power Company, Day~

They approach Travis "Travis Weaver?" Averie asks "Yeah, that's right." "Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" "Dustin never mentioned a nephew or niece." Andrew starts fidgeting "Really? Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest." Averie nods, he smiles "Oh, he did? Huh." "Listen, we wanted to ask you... what exactly happened out there?" "I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back..." "What did you see?" "Nothin'. Just Dustin." Averie nibbles on her lip "No wounds or anything?" "Well, he was bleeding... from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it." "So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" he shakes his head "I don't know. That's what the doctors are sayin'." "But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Andrew asks "No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?" "That's a good question." "You know, can you show us where this happened?" "Yeah."

Averie watches as Travis walks away, the hole is surrounded by police tape, "Huh. What do you think?" she asks "I don't know. But if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast." They duck under the tape "So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" "No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this thing worked from the inside." "Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. You wanna flip a coin?" he sighs "Av, we have no idea what's down there." she picks up a nearby coil of rope "All right, I'll go if you're scared. You scared?" "Flip the damn coin." she smiles and pulls a coin out of her pocket "All right, call it in the air... chicken." she flips it, he catches it mid-air "I'm going." he says "I said I'd go." " _I'm_ going." "Alright." she frowns as he ties the rope around his waist "Don't drop me."

~Impala~

Averie drives, Andrew plays with a dead beetle "So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking, Andrew." she rolls her eyes "There were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but-" "How many did you find down there?" "Ten." "It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain." he thinks "Well, maybe there were more." "I don't know, it sounds like a stretch to me.""Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before." 

They drive into town and Averie sees a sign for an open house "I know a good place to start." she points to the sign and chuckles "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how 'bout you?" Andrew gives her a knowing look "What, we can't talk to the locals?" he sighs "And the free food's got nothin' to do with it?" "Of course not. I'm a professional." " _Right._ " She parks the car, they get out and begin walking down the street to the open house "Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out." she mutters "Why?" "Well, manicured lawns, "How was your day, honey?" I'd blow my brains out." "There's nothing wrong with 'normal'." she scoffs "I'd take our family over normal any day."

~Open House~

Averie knocks on the door, it opens and the homeowner/developer Larry Pike is standing there "Welcome." Andrew smiles "This the barbeque?" "Yeah, not the best weather, but... I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are... ?" Averie shakes his hand "Averie, he's Andrew." "Nice to meet you two." "Yes, sir." "Let me just say - we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or... _sexual orientation_." they realize what he's trying to say, Andrew looks at him "We're siblings." Larry stands there embarrassed "Our father is getting on in years, and we're just lookin' for a place for him." "Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in." He walks them to the backyard "You said you were the developer?" Averie asks "Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. We're the first family in Oasis Plains." he walks over to his wife "This is my wife, Joanie." Joanie smiles "Hello there." she shakes their hands "Honey this is Andrew and Averie." she smiles, Andrew smiles "It's a pleasure to meet you." "Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." Larry says jokingly, they both laugh, Averie looks at Andrew.

"Well, will you excuse me, I'm going to see if anyone else is coming." he leaves, "Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live." Joanie says, Averie nods. A woman, Lynda Bloome, approaches them "Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome, head of sales." Averie shakes her hand, Andrew does the same, Joanie smiles "And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very noisy neighbor, though." she walks away and Lynda starts talking to Andrew and Averie "She's kidding, of course. I take it you two are interested in becoming homeowners." "Well.." Andrew cuts her off "Y-yeah, well..." Lynda smiles "let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or... sexual orientation." Averie chuckles slightly "Right. Um... I'm gonna go talk to Larry" she turns to Andrew "Okay Honey?" she walks away and smacks his ass. He glares at her and she laughs.

~Inside Pike residence~

After the tour Averie and Larry walk down the stairs "You've got three choices - carpet, hardwood, and tile." she zones out then sees jars of bugs "Whoa. Someone likes bugs." she looks at them, there's many "My son - he's into insects. He's very... inquisitive." he stands next to her. There's none of the beetles that Andrew was playing with earlier.

~Outside~

Lynda is boring Andrew "Who can say "no" to a steam shower? I use mine everyday." she says "Sounds great." While she continues talking, he notices a tarantula crawling towards her hand, which is resting on a table. A few feet away, Larry's son, Matt, is watching excitedly. "Excuse me." He nudges her out of the way and picks up the spider, bringing it over to him. "Is this yours?" "You gonna tell my dad?" he asks taking it from him "I don't know. Who's your dad?" Matt scoffs "Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions." "Ouch. First name basis with the old man - sounds pretty grim." "I'm not exactly brochure material." "Well, hang in there. It gets better, all right? I promise." "When?" he asks frowning. 

"Matthew." Larry says, Averie and him are walking over "I am so sorry about my son and his... pet." "It's no bother." "Excuse us." he says grabbing Matt's arm and pulling him away. Andrew frowns "Remind you of somebody?" he asks, Averie looks over at Larry, who is screaming at Matt, she looks back at Andrew confused "Dad? Dad never treated us like that." "Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don't remember?" "Maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line." he scoffs " _Right, Right._ like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting." "Bowhunting's an important skill." he rolls his eyes "Whatever. How was your tour?" "Oh, it was excellent. I'm ready to buy." Andrew chuckles "So you might be onto somethin'. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here." "What happened?" "About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this severe allergic reaction to bee stings." Andrew sighs "More bugs.." Averie nods "More bugs."

~Impala~

Andrew drives as Averie flips through Ethan's journal, "You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" she asks sighing "Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations." "But I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity." "Yeah, me neither." "Maybe they're being controlled somehow. You know, by something or someone." Andrew smiles "Like Willard?" "Yeah, but bugs instead of rats." "There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals - elementals, telepaths." "that whole Timmy-Lassie thing." she looks at the journal and realizes something "Larry's kid - he's got bugs for pets." "Matt?" "Yeah." "He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula." "You think he's our Willard?" "I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess." Averie looks out the window "Ooh, pull in here!" Andrew pulls into the driveway of one of the Oasis Plains houses "What're we doing?" she gets out of the car "It's too late to talk to anybody else." "We're gonna squat in an empty house?" "I wanna try the steam shower. Come on." she opens the garage "Come on!" he pulls in and she shuts it.

~Lynda's house~

Lynda walks into her room and flips the tv on "Atoka Valley County began mandatory insecticide spraying across a wide swath of the district today. Authorities say the decision to spray was made because of several recent cases of West Nile virus, coupled with a dramatic increase in the mosquito population of some areas." she lets her hair down, a spider crawls out onto her face, she swats it off scared, she kills it and turns off the TV before heading to the bathroom. While she is washing her hair, a very big spider crawls out from behind the showerhead. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of enormous spiders begin crawling out from the tiles. Lynda opens her eyes and screams. She breaks through the glass of the shower doors and tries to run away. A trail of blood leads from the bathtub to the bedroom floor, Lynda is lying there, dead, as several smaller spiders run across her body. 

~Oasis Plains House, morning~

Andrew walks up to the bathroom door and knocks "You ever comin' out of there?" "What?" "Av, a police call came in on the scanner." "Hold on." "Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on." the door opens, Averie looks at him wrapped in a towel. "This shower is awesome." he sighs "Get dressed then come on." she walks away. He shakes his head and walks over to the window.

~Lynda's house~

Averie parks and they get out, Larry is talking to someone on the phone, they walk over as he finishes the call. Lynda's body is wheeled past in a stretcher "Hello. You're, uh, back early." Averie nods "Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood." Andrew looks at the house "What's goin on?" "You guys met, uh... Lynda Bloome at the barbeque?" "Yeah, the realtor?" "Well, she, uh... passed away last night." Averie and Andrew look at each other, then back at Larry "What happened?" Averie asks "I'm still tryin' to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now." "It's okay." "Excuse me." he says leaving. Andrew sighs "You know what we have to do, right?" "Yeah. Get in that house." "See if we have a bug problem."

A few minutes later, they climb over the fence, up the side of the house and into Lynda's bedroom window. Her body outline is taped on the ground, "I think this is the place." Averie says. They walk over to another part of the room, she picks up a towel, and drops it when she sees it is covered in dead spiders. "Spiders. From Spider Boy?" "His name's Matt, and maybe we should check for EMF or sulfur before assuming." she chuckles "Of course you stand up for the bug freak." he rolls his eyes and starts looking around. There's no sulfur, no EMF, nothing.

~Bus Stop~

Averie parks the Impala across the street from the bus stop, Matt gets off the school bus and begins walking to the woods. "Isn't his house the other way?" she asks "Yup." "So where's he goin'?" They get out and start following him, Matt stands in the woods observing a grasshopper "Hey, Matt. Remember me?" Andrew asks. He turns around "What are you doin' out here?" Averie stands next to Andrew "Well, we wanna talk to you." "You're not here to buy a house, are you?" she shakes her head "W-wait. You're not serial killers? Are you?" They laugh "No, no. No, I think you're safe." Andrew says, "So, _Matt_... you sure know a lot about insects." Averie says "So?" "Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" "I hear she died this morning." "Mm, that's right. Spider bites." "Matt... you tried to scare her with a spider." Andrew says "Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" "You tell us." she says glaring "That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy." "You know about those?" "There is somethin' going on here. I don't know what... but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something."

He picks up his backpack and beings walking with them to another area. "So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out." Andrew says "Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me." "Why not?" "Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son." Andrew scoffs "I hear you." Averie frowns "You do?" she whispers, he turns and gives her a look "Matt, how old are you?" "Sixteen?" "Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen." "What?" "College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad." Averie looks at him "What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family." he sighs "How much further, Matt?" "We're close." 

Andrew glares at Averie before he continues walking, they reach a small clearing. The sounds of hundreds of different insects can be heard among the trees. "I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class." Averie chuckles "You two are like peas in a pod." Andrew ignores her "What's been happening?" "A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here." "Why?" "I'm not sure." Andrew sees a dark patch of grass a few feet away "What is that?" Curious, they walk over to it and discover hundreds of worms. Averie steps on some of them, and they fall into the ground, creating a hole. She crouches down and uses a stick to poke around in the hole. "There's something down there." Averie puts the stick down and puts her hand into the hole. With a disgusted expression, she feels something inside the hole. When she brings her hand back up, the three of them look horrified. Covered in dirt and worms, is a human skull.

~Department of Anthropology~

Andrew and Averie park in front of the local University, Averie grabs the box of bones from the backseat. "So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave." he says "Yeah. Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?" "Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?" "That's two questions." she says jokingly, he ignores her "Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?" "Just, uh... I know what the kid's goin' through." "How 'bout tellin' him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" "Averie, come on." they stop walking "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about." she sighs "Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up." "I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough." "So what are you sayin'? That Dad was disappointed in you?" "Was? Is. Always has been." she frowns and looks at him "Why would you think that?" Andrew sighs "Because I didn't wanna bowhunt or hustle pool - because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak." "Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters." he smiles slightly

"Av, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house." "I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin' out of your mouth." "You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad... I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me." Averie puts a hand on hsi shoulder "Andy, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared." "What are you talkin' about?" "He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talkin'... he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could." Andrew's smile turns into a frown, Averie continues "Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe." "What?" "Yeah." "Why didn't you tell me any of that?" "Well, it's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone." He stands there sad, "Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment." she walks away, leaving him alone.

~College Classroom~

Andrew talks to the professor as Averie sits nearby "So, you two are students?" "Yeah. Yeah, uh, we're in your class - Anthro 101?" "Oh, right." Averie looks over "So, what about the bones, Professor?" "This is quite an interesting find you've made. I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American." "Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?" the professor shakes his her head "Not according to the historical record. But the, uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." "Right. Well, are there any local legends? Oral histories about the area?" "Well... you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth." Averie stands up "All right, thank you."

~Oklahoma Diner~

They walk into the diner and see a Native American man, Joe White Tree, playing with some cards. They walk over "Joe White Tree?" Andrew asks, the man nods "We'd like to ask you a few questions. If that's alright." Averie sits down "We're students from the university." "No your not." she sits there shocked "Well, truth is-" "You know who starts sentence with "truth is"? Liars." Averie and Andrew exchange a glance. "Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." Joe looks at Averie "I like him, he's not a liar." he looks at Andrew, she sits there angrily "I know the area." "What can you tell us about the history there?" "Why do you wanna know?" "Something... something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there - Native American bones." "I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people." Averie sighs "Insects. Sounds like nature to me. Six days." Joe looks at them "And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Averie and Andrew look at each other.

They're waking back to the Impala "When did the gas company man die?" "Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Averie says "March Twentieth?" she nods "That's the spring equinox." "The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." "So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land." Averie looks at him "And on the sixth night - that's tonight." "If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" "You don't break a curse. You get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." They get in and drive off.

~Pike house~

Matt is in the backyard with a flashlight, he hears a noise coming from the ground. He crouches down by a patch of ground and moves a rock. Suddenly, tons of cockroaches come crawling out from under the dirt. 

~Impala~

Averie is driving while Andrew is on the phone with Larry "Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood." "God, really? And how big?" "Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe." "And who is this again?" Andrew tenses up "Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power." "Uh-huh. Well, the problem is, I know Travis. He's worked with us for a year, so who is this?" "Uh.." in fear he hangs up. Averie shakes her head "Great, how can we help now?" he calls Matt. "Hello?" "Matt, its Andrew." "Andrew, my backyard is crawling with cockroaches." "Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay?" "What, why?" "Because something's coming." "More bugs?" "A lot more." "My dad doesn't listen in the best of circumstances, what am I supposed to tell him?" "You've gotta make him listen, okay?" Averie hits his leg "Give me the phone." she takes the phone from him "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts." "But he's my-" "Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?" "Yeah. Yeah, okay." she hangs up and glares at Andrew "Make him listen? What are you thinkin'?"

~Pike House~

They park outside, Larry looks out the window and sees them. He goes outside as they step on the porch "Get off my property before I call the cops." "Mr. Pike listen." Andrew says, Matt tries stopping Larry "Dad, they're just tryin' to help." "Get in the house!" Matt looks at them "I'm sorry I told him the truth." Averie sighs "We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Andrew looks at Larry "Look, it's 12:00 AM. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late." "Yeah, you mean _the biblical storm_." "Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas company guy? You don't think somethin' weird's goin' on here?" "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem." Averie chuckles "Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now."

"Dad, they're right, we're in danger." "Matt, get inside! Now!" "No! Why won't you listen to me?!" "Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Andrew starts getting angry "Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?" Averie looks at them "Wait." they go silent "Do you hear that?" From somewhere nearby, a very loud buzzing noise can be heard. It continues to get louder. "What the hell?" Larry asks, the fluorescent bug light on the porch begins to overheat, killing several bugs at a time. "All right, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife." Averie says "Guys?" Matt asks looking up at the sky, all of them look up to the sky. Millions of bugs begin flying towards the house, blanketing the sky. "Oh my god." Larry says, Andrew looks at Averie "We'll never make it." "Everybody in the house, now!" she yells.

They rush into the house, "Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" "No, its just us." Joanie walks into the living room "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" Larry looks at her "Call 9-1-1." she doesn't move "Joanie!" "Okay." she goes into the kitchen. Averie thinks for a moment "I need towels." "Uh, in the closet." he says, she goes and gets some towels. Andrew looks at Matt "Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on - doors, windows, fireplace, everything, okay?" they go upstairs, Joanie walks out of the kitchen nervous "Phones are dead." "They must have chewed through the phone lines." Averie says putting towels down at the base of the front door, the power goes out "And the power lines.." Larry grabs his cell phone "No signal." "You won't get one. They're blanketing the house."

Millions of bugs begin collecting on the doors and windows, covering the entire building. The three of them watch, waiting. Andrew and Matt come down the stairs "So what do we do now?" Larry asks "We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise." Andrew says "Hopefully?" Joanie and Averie go into the kitchen, Averie searches the cabinets. She finds a can of bug spray and goes back into the living room "Bug spray?" Joanie asks "Trust me." There's a creaking sound coming from around the fireplace "What's that?" Averie asks, Andrew looks at her "The flue." "All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs." she says 

Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of bugs come into the living room, swarming all around them. They scream and try to protect themselves. Averie uses a lighter with the can of bug spray to make it flare up. The flame wards some of the bugs away "All right, everybody upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!" she goes upstairs with them into the attic, and Andrew closes the door. After a moment of being in the attic, sawdust begins to fall from the ceiling. The buzz of the bees gets louder "Oh, God, what's that?" Joanie cries "Something's eating through the wood." Averie mutters "Termites." Matt says. "All right, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" 

The three Pikes move as far into the corner of the attic as they can. A second later, the bugs chew a hole through the ceiling and swarm around the room. Andrew and Averie frantically try to patch up the hole in the ceiling, but this only works for a minute. Soon, two more holes are chewed, and while Averie tries to ward them off with bug spray, nothing seems to work. The five of them stand in the corner, trying desperately to swat the bugs away for a few minutes. Then, suddenly, the sun rises. Miraculously, the bugs start to leave through the hole in the ceiling. Confused,Andrew goes to see what happened. Through the hole, they can see the bugs in the sky, near the sun, in one enormous colony. The five of them watched, relieved.

~Pike's house, outside~

Averie and Andrew walk up to Larry, who is placing boxes into a moving van. "What, no goodbye?" Averie says laughing "Good timing. Another hour and we'd have been gone." he shakes both their hands. "For good?" Andrew asks "Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again." "You don't seem too upset about it." "Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." he looks over at Matt, who is carrying a box over to the garbage, "somehow, I really don't care." He smiles, Andrew walks over to Matt, he's throwing out his bug paraphernalia. "What's this ?" he asks, Matt looks at him "I don't know. They kind of weird me out now." they both laugh "Yeah, I should hope so."

He joins Averie at the Impala, they watch Larry and Matt, they're getting along better, "I wanna find Dad." Andrew says "Yeah, me too." "Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him." "For what?" "All the things I said to him. He was just doin' the best he could." "Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats." he chuckles "Yeah, probably." there's silence "Let's hit the road." They get in the car, giving one last wave to Larry and Matt, before drive away.


	10. Home

~Lawrence, Kansas. Night~

A young woman, Jenny, is sitting on the floor of her home, unpacking boxes. She comes across a photo of herself and her husband at their wedding. She begins to cry just as her daughter, Sari, comes in the room. "Mommy?" she looks over "Hey, sweetie. Why aren't you in bed?" "There's something in my closet." She walks Sari up to her room, she walks over to the closet as Sari sits down on her bed. She opens the doors, there's nothing there, Sari watches nervously "See, There's nothing there." "You sure?" "I'm sure. Now, come on. Get into bed." she crawls into bed as Jenny walks over "I don't like this house." "You're just not used to it yet. But you and your brother and me –- we are going to be very happy here. I promise." Jenny kisses her forehead. "I love you." She turns off the light and gets up to leave the room "The chair." "Okay." she moves a chair under the closet door knob. "The chair. Just to be safe." she mumbles. Sari lays down and falls asleep, Jenny leaves.

After returning to the living room, she continues unpacking boxes. She stops when she hears the sound of scratching coming from the basement. "Please, God, don't let it be rats." she walks downstairs into the basement with a flashlight. She tries turning on a light, but the light doesn't turn on. "Terrific.." 

In Sari's room, the chair starts moving on it's own, away from the closet doors. Sari sits up in her bed, wide-eyed and afraid. Back in the basement, Jenny keeps looking around. On the floor, she sees a large black trunk. She kneels down and opens it, pulling out old photos of the Walker family. Written on the back of a picture are the words, "The Walkers. Ethan, Madison, Averie, and Little Andy." she smiles. In the bedroom, the closet doors open by themselves. Standing in the closet is what looks like a person, but it is entirely made out of fire. Sari screams.

~Motel room, night~

While Andrew is sleeping, he begins dreaming of Jenny. She is inside her bedroom, screaming for help. He wakes up, confused, he looks over at sees Averie asleep and lays back down. 

The next morning, while Averie is on the computer, Andrew starts drawing a picture of a tree. "All right. I've been cruisin' some websites. I think I found a few candidates for our next gig. A fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali –- its crew vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas. Hey!" he looks up " Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?" "No, I'm listening. Keep going." he goes back to drawing "And, here, a Sacramento man shot himself in the head. Three times." she waves her hand in front of his face "Any of these things blowin' up your skirt, pal?" he sits there looking at his drawing "Wait. I've seen this." "Seen what?" he gets up from the bed and goes searching through his duffel bag. "What're doing?" he finds a photo of their family from when he was a baby. He compares the tree in the photo to his drawing. They are the same.

"Av, I know where we have to go next." she looks at him "Where?" "Back home –- back to Kansas." "Okay, random. Where'd that come from?" he walks back over and shows him the picture "All right, um, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right? The house where Mom died?" "Yeah?" "And it didn't burn down, right? I mean, not completely, they rebuilt it, right?" "I guess so, yeah. What the hell are you talkin' about?" he sighs "Okay, look, this is gonna sound crazy but....the people who live in our old house –- I think they might be in danger." "Why would you think that?" He starts walking away "Uh...it's just, um....look, just trust me on this, okay?" she gets up and starts following him "Wait, whoa, whoa, _trust_ you?" "Yeah." she sighs "Come on, man, that's weak. You gotta give me a little bit more than that." "I can't really explain it is all." "Well, tough. I'm not goin' anywhere until you do." he looks at her, she stands there waiting.

"I have these nightmares." he starts "I've noticed." "And sometimes....they come true." Averie stands there stunned "Come again?" "Look, Averie....I dreamt about Hannah's death –- for days before it happened." "Andrew, people have weird dreams, man. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." she sits down on the bed "No, I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything, and I didn't do anything about it 'cause I didn't believe it. And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started, man, this has to mean something, right?" "I don't know." she says overwhelmed by all of this. He sits down across from her "What do you mean you don't know, Av? This woman might be in danger. I mean, this might even be the thing that killed Mom and Hannah!" "All right, just slow down, would ya?" she stands up and starts pacing "I mean, first you tell me that you've got the Shining? And then you tell me that I've gotta go back home? Especially when...." "When what?" she frowns and looks at him "When I swore to myself that I would never go back there?" he sighs and softly says "Look, we have to check this out. Just to make sure." "I know we do."

~Jenny's house~

They park out front, Andrew looks over at Averie "Hey, are you going to be alright?" she sighs "Let me get back to you on that." they get out. After knocking on the front door, Jenny answers it. Andrew is shocked that she is truly the same woman from his dream. "Yes?" she asks, "Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal—" Andrew cuts Averie off "I'm Andrew Walker, and this is my sister, Averie. We used to live here. You know, we were just drivin' by, and we were wondering if we could come see the old place." she smiles "Walker, that's funny, I think I found some of your old photos last night." Averie smiles "You did?" she nods and steps aside "Come on in." 

Inside the house, the three of them go to the kitchen. Sari is at the table doing homework. Ritchie her jumpy toddler brother, is in his playpen. "Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!" he chants, Jenny smiles "That's Ritchie, he's a juice junkie." she takes a sippy cup out of the fridge and hands it to him "But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy." Andrew sits down in front of Sari "Sari, this is Andrew and Averie. They used to live here." "Hi." Sari says looking at them, Averie waves, "Hey, Sari." Averie and Jenny walk away from them "So, you just moved in?" "Yeah, from Witcha." "You got family here, or....?" she shakes her head "No. I just, uh....needed a fresh start, that's all. So, new town, new job –- I mean, as soon as I find one. New house." "So, how you likin' it so far?" "Well, uh, all due respect to your childhood home –- I mean, I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here." Averie smiles weakly "But this place has its issues."

"What do you mean?" Andrew asks overhearing, Jenny sighs "Well, it's just getting old. Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly." "Oh, that's too bad. What else?" "Um...sink's backed up, there's rats in the basement." she pauses "I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain." Averie chuckles "No. Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?" "Just the scratching." Sari looks over at Jenny "Mom? Ask them if it was here when they lived here." Andrew looks at her "What?" "The thing in my closet." she smiles and kneels next to her "Oh, no, baby, there was nothing in their closets. Right?" he smiles "Right. No, no, of course not." "She had a nightmare the other night-" Sari interrupts "I wasn't dreaming. It came into my bedroom –- and it was on fire." Andrew and Averie look at each other.

~Outside Jenny's house~

"You hear that? A figure, on fire." Andrew says "And that woman, Jenny, that was the woman in your dreams?" Averie asks "Yeah. And you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights, both signs of a malevolent spirit." "Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are comin' true." "Well, forget about that for a minute. The thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Mom and Hannah?" she sighs "I don't know!" "Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?" "Or maybe it's something else entirely, Andrew, we don't know yet." "Well, those people are in danger, Averie. We have to get 'em out of that house." she chuckles "And we will." "No, I mean now." "And how you gonna do that, huh? You got a story that she's gonna believe?" "Then what are we supposed to do?"

~Gas station~

They stand next to the Impala "We just gotta chill out, that's all. You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?" Averie asks "We'd try to figure out what we were dealin' with. We'd dig into the history of the house." "Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened." he frowns "Yeah, but how much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?" "About that night, you mean?" "Yeah." she sighs "Not much. I remember the fire...the heat. And then I carried you out the front door." Andrew looks at her "You did?" "Yeah, what, you never knew that?" he shakes his head "Never." "And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mom was....was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her." he tilts his head "And he never had a theory about what did it?" "Okay. So, if we're gonna figure out what's goin' on now...we have to figure out what happened back then. And see if it's the same thing." Averie bites her lip and nods "Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time." there's some silence.

Andrew looks at her "Does this feel like just another job to you?" she stares at the ground for a moment "I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom." she walks away. After turning a corner, she stands next to the bathroom door and takes out her cell phone, making sure no one can see her, she dials a number. A voicemail starts playing "This is Ethan Walker. If this is an emergency, call my daughter, Averie at 866-907-3235." the beep sounds, Averie starts talking "Dad? I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you'll get 'em. But I'm with Andrew. And we're in Lawrence. And there's somethin' in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed Mom or not, but...." her voice breaks, and pauses barely able to hold herself together "I don't know what to do." she starts crying "So, whatever you're doin', if you could get here. Please. I need your help, Dad." she hangs up with tears in her eyes.

~Jenny's house~

Jenny shows a plumber to the kitchen, near the sink "No, sir, nothing weird down there, I promise. Sink just backed up on its own." she says "Well, I'll take a look." "Thanks. Oh, okay, I'll get out of your way." she leaves. The plumber sets down his tools and begins looking at the pipes under the sink. A few feet away, by Ritchie's playpen, a toy monkey is sitting with cymbals in its hands. Without warning, the monkey starts up. It clashes its cymbals together loudly while cackling. After a moment, the plumber looks up, confused. The toy stops. The plumber stands up and tries turning on the garbage disposal, but it doesn't work. Instead, he rolls up his sleeve and sticks his hand down the disposal. He thinks he feels something in the drain, but when he takes his hand out, there is nothing there. He sticks most of his arm back down the disposal. Suddenly, the garbage disposal starts up. The plumber's arm is being completely torn apart as blood splatters everywhere. At the same time, the cymbal-clashing monkey starts up again, cackling as the plumber screams.

~Guenther's Auto Repairs~

Averie and Andrew are questioning the owner "So you and Ethan Walker, you used to own this garage together?" Averie asks "Yeah, we used to, a long time ago. Matter of fact, it must be, uh...twenty years since Ethan disappeared. So why the cops interested all of a sudden?" "Oh, we're re-opening some of our unsolved cases, and the Walker disappearance is one of 'em." "Oh, well, what do you wanna know about him?" " Well, whatever you remember, you know, whatever sticks out in your mind." "Well...he was a stubborn bastard, I remember that." he laughs. "And, uh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It's that whole Marine thing." Averie and Andrew nod "But, oh, he sure loved Madison. And he doted on those kids." Andrew weakly smiles "But that was before the fire?" "That's right." "He ever talk about that night?" he shakes his head "No, not at first. I think he was in shock." "Right. But eventually? What did he say about it?" "Oh, he wasn't thinkin' straight. He said somethin' caused that fire and killed Madison." Averie cuts in "He ever say what did it?" 

Guenther chuckles "Nothin' did it. It was an accident –- an electrical short in the ceiling or walls or somethin'. I begged him to get some help, but...." "But what?" "Oh, he just got worse and worse." "How?" "Oh, he started readin' these strange ol' books. He started goin' to see this palm reader in town." "Palm reader? Uh, do you have a name?" he scoffs "No."

~Impala~

The car is parked by a payphone, where Andrew is looking through a phonebook. He leans in the window "All right, so there are a few psychics and palm readers in town. There's someone named El Divino. There's, uh –-" he laughs "there's the Mysterious Mister Fortinsky. Uh, Missouri Moseley—" "Wait, Missouri Moseley?" "What?" "That's a psychic?" he tilts his head "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess so." Averie reaches into the backseat and pulls out Ethan's journal. "In Dad's journal...here, look at this. First page, first sentence, read that." she hands him the journal " _I went to Missouri and I learned the truth._ " "I always thought he meant the state."

~Missouri's house/office~

Missouri is escorting a man as Averie and Andrew sit on the couch "All right, there. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you." the man thanks her and leaves "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener." Averie looks shocked "Why didn't you tell him?" "People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news." they stare at her "Well, Andrew, Averie, come on, I don't have all day." She leaves the room, they look at each other confused and follow her. "Well, lemme look at ya." she smiles "You two grew up amazingly." she points at Averie "And you were one goofy looking kid." 

Averie glares as Andrew laughs. "Andrew.." she grabs his hand "Oh, honey...I'm sorry about your girlfriend." he sadly looks away "And your father –- he's missin'?" Andrew looks at her "How do you know all of this?" "Well, you were just thinkin' it just now." he raises his eyebrows suprized, Averie immediately pipes up "Well, where is he? Is he okay?" "I don't know.." "Don't know? Well, you're supposed to be a psychic, right?" "You see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please." they both sit, Averie leans back and Missouri looks at her "Girl, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!" "I didn't even do anything." she says straightening up "But you were thinkin about it."

"Okay. So, our dad –- when did you first meet him?" Andrew asks "He came for a reading. A few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say...I drew back the curtains for him." Averie looks shocked "What about the fire? Do you know about what killed our mom?" "A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing." "Could you?" "I.." she shakes her head "What was it?" "I don't know. Oh, but it was evil." she says softly.

~Jenny's house~

Jenny's on the phone in the kitchen, Ritchie's in his playpen "Look, I feel just awful about the poor man's hand." {...} "Wait, but how can I be held liable?" {...] "Yeah, but I can't afford a lawyer." She begins to hear noises from upstairs, "Okay, listen, you just gotta let me call you back." she hangs up. "Ritchie, um, Mommy's gonna be right back, okay?" he smiles "Mama, bye bye." she leaves the room.

~Missouri's house~

"So...you think somethin' is back in that house?" Missouri asks "Definitely." Andrew says "I don't understand." "What?" "I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?" "I don't know. But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once –- it just feels like something's starting." "That's a comforting thought.." Averie mutters

~Jenny's house~

While Ritchie is alone in the kitchen, one of the screws on his playpen mysteriously comes out of place. One of the playpen's sides falls to the floor. At the same time, the safety latch on the door of the refrigerator comes undone. The refrigerator opens. Curious, Ritchie walks over to it. Inside, he sees his sippy cup full of juice "Juicy!" he climbs into the refrigerator and sits on one of the shelves. Suddenly, the refrigerator door closes and the safety latch locks into place. "Oh baby, either we have rats or Mommy's going crazy." Jenny says walking into the kitchen. She sees that the playpen is empty. "Ritchie? Ritchie?!" Panicked, she rushes into the other rooms and tries to find him. "Baby, where are you?!" She comes back into the kitchen, breathing heavily. She sees milk leaking out from inside the refrigerator. She goes over to it and opens the door. Ritchie sees her "Mommy!" "Oh my God!" She takes him out of the refrigerator and holds him in her arms.

A few minutes later there's a knock on the door, she answers, Averie, Andrew, and Missouri are standing there "Andrew, Averie, what're you doing here?" "Hey, Jenny. This is our friend, Missouri." Andrew says "If it's not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the old house. You know, for old time's sake." Averie says, Jenny sighs "You know, this isn't a good time. I'm kind of busy." "Listen Jenny, it's important." Averie says, Missouri smacks her in the back of the head "Ow!" "Give the poor girl a break, can't you see she's upset?" she turns to Jenny "Forgive this girl, she means well, she's just not the sharpest tool in the shed, but hear me out." Jenny stands there "About what?" "About this house." she gets worried "What are you talking about?" "I think you know what I'm talking about. You think there's something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?" "Who are you?" "We're people who can help, who can stop this thing. But you're gonna have to trust us, just a little." Jenny looks at them unsure.

Moments later they are in Sari's bedroom "If there's a dark energy around here, this room should be the center of it." Missouri says, Andrew gets confused "Why?" "This used to be your nursery, Andrew. This is where it all happened." He looks up at the ceiling, while Missouri looks around the room Averie pulls out a EMF "Is that EMF?" "Yeah." "Amature." Averie glares at her. She nudges Andrew and shows him that the EMF is beeping frantically. "I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain't the thing that took your mom." Andrew looks at her "Wait, are you sure? How do you know?" "It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It's somethin' different." "What is it?" Missouri looks at him and shuts the closet "Not it, them. There's more than one spirit in this house." 

Averie looks at her "What are they doing here?" "They're here because of what happened to your family. You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds. And sometimes, wounds get infected." "I-I don't understand." "This place is a magnet for paranormal energy. It's attracted a poltergeist. A nasty one. And it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead." Andrew looks around " You said there was more than one spirit." "There is. I just can't quite make out the second one." "Well, one thing's for damn sure –- nobody's dyin' in this house ever again. So whatever is here, how do we stop it?"

~Missouri's house~

Averie, Andrew, and Missouri are sitting around a table. On the table are different herbs and roots "So, what is all this stuff, anyway?" Averie asks "Angelica Root, Van Van oil, crossroad dirt, a few other odds and ends." Missouri says "Yeah? What are we supposed to do with it?" "We're gonna put them inside the walls in the north, south, east, west corners on each floor of the house." "We'll be punchin' holes in the dry wall. Jenny's gonna love that." "She'll live." "And this'll destroy the spirits?" "It should. It should purify the house completely. We'll each take a floor. But we work fast. Once the spirits realize what we're up to, things are gonna get bad."

~Jenny's house~

Missouri is walking Jenny and the kids out the door "Look, I'm not sure I'm comfortable leaving you guys here alone." she says "Just take your kids to the movies or somethin', and it'll be over by the time you get back." Jenny, still slightly unsure, leaves with her kids. Missouri goes back inside. Andrew goes into one of the rooms with a hammer. He kneels down by the wall and begins using the end of the hammer to hit against the walls. While he is doing this, a plug on the other side of the room takes itself out of the outlet. A lamp begins to move on its own also. The plug snakes its way towards him. Downstairs in the kitchen, Averie is punching the wall with a small ax. Behind him, a drawer begins to open on its own. In the basement, Missouri is looking around. She brings a bag full of herbs to the wall. She hears a noise and turns around to see a table coming towards her. She screams as it pins her against the wall. Back in the kitchen, Averie also hears a noise. She quickly ducks just as a knife hurls itself into a cabinet, she places a table in front of herself as more knives come through it. 

Upstairs, Andrew is chopping a hole in the wall. The lamp crashes to the ground, he turns around to see what the noise was, and the cord wraps itself around his neck. He falls to the ground, trying to get the cord off. Eventually, he lies weak on the floor. Averie runs upstairs and into the room, "Andy!" she runs over to him and tries getting the cord off, but it won't budge. Instead, she kicks a hole in the wall and places the bag of herbs inside. A blinding white light leaves the room. Once the spirit is gone, Averie goes back over to Andrew, who is completely weak. She unravels the cord from around his neck and pulls him into a fierce hug. 

~A few hours later~

They stand in an extremely messy kitchen, "You sure this is over?" Andrew asks "I'm sure. Why? Why do you ask?" Missouri asks "Never mind," he sighs "It's nothin', I guess" They hear Jenny enter the house "Hello, we're home." she walks into the kitchen and looks around "What happened?" Andrew looks at her "Hi, sorry. Um, we'll pay for all of this." Averie nudges him and whispers "We don't have money." Missouri smiles "Don't worry, Averie's gonna clean all of this." Averie stands frozen "Well, what are you waiting for, girl? Get the mop." she begins walking away. "And don't cuss at me!" she mumbles something. A while later, they leave the house.

Later that night, Jenny is in bed, reading a magazine. She yawns and puts the magazine on her bedside table. After turning off the light and sliding underneath the covers, she goes to sleep. A few seconds later, she opens her eyes, startled. The bed begins to shake violently. She screams and gets out of bed. Meanwhile, outside, Averie and Andrew are sitting in the car "All right, so, tell me again, what are we still doin' here?" Averie asks "I don't know. I just...I still have a bad feeling." "Why? Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing, the house should be clean, it should be over." "Yeah, well, probably. But I just wanna make sure, that's all." Averie sighs "Yeah, well, problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now." shee slides down in the seat and closes her eyes. Andrew looks up at Jenny's bedroom window and sees her screaming, just as in his dream. "Averie, Averie!" he yells shaking her, "You get the kids, I'll get Jenny." she says as they run towards the house.

Averie runs to Jenny's bedroom and tries opening the door "Jenny!" "I can't open the door!" "Stand back!" she kicks open the door and carries her downstairs. "My kids! The kids!" "Andrew has the kids." While carrying Ritchie in his arms, Andrew goes into Sari's bedroom, where she is screaming for help. He goes to her bed and picks her up in his other arm. "Don't look." he says, he rushes down the stairs and sets Sari down, he hands Ritchie to her " All right, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back." Suddenly, an invisible force makes Andrew fall to the floor. He slides backwards into another room, crashing into a table. Sari screams and runs outside with Ritchie. They rush outside to Averie and Jenny. Averie kneels down to Sari's eye level "Where is Andrew?" "He's inside. Something's got him" Panicked, Averie looks at the front door. It slams shut on its own.

Averie opens the trunk of the Impala and grabs a rifle and an ax. She rushes to the front door and begins chopping away at it. Inside the kitchen, Andrew gets flung into a set of cabinets. He stands up and is pinned against the wall by the invisible force. He can't move any part of his body. The fire figure makes its way towards him. Averie continues chopping down parts of the door. Eventually, she makes a hole that he is able to step through. She runs through the house, looking for Andrew. "Andrew!?" she yells, she raises her gun and points it at the fire figure "No, don't! Don't!" "What, why?!" "Because I know who it is. I can see her now."

Suddenly, the fire vanishes, standing in front of them is Madison Walker, exactly as she was the night she died. Averie's expression softens. In shock, she lowers her gun slowly. "Mom?" Madison smiles and steps forward "Averie.." tears start to form in Averie's eyes, Madison walks away from him and goes to Andrew. Averie watches her, never taking her eyes off her. "Andrew." he smiles weakly, crying. His mother's smile fades "I'm sorry." "For what?" she says nothing and backs away. Se looks up at the ceiling "You get out of my house. And let go of my son." Once again, she bursts into flames. When she is entirely engulfed, the fire reaches the ceiling and disappears. The force holding Andrew to the wall is released. He walks over to Averie, and the two of them look at each other, stunned.

The next morning, Averie is standing by the Impala with Jenny, looking through old pictures "Thanks for these." "Don't thank me, they're yours." she puts the trunk of photos into the Impala's backseat. Andrew sits on the front steps with Missouri "Well, there are no spirits in there anymore, this time for sure." "Not even my mom?" "No.." "What happened?" "Your mom's spirit and the poltergeist's energy, they cancelled each other out. Your mom destroyed herself goin' after the thing." "Why would she do something like that?" "Well to save her kids of course." he nods tearing up, she goes to put her hand on his shoulder but stops "Andrew, I'm sorry." "For what?" "You sensed it was here, didn't you? Even when I couldn't." he looks at her and nods "What's happening to me?" "I know I should have all the answers, but I don't know." Averie looks over from the car "Andy, you ready?" he gets up and walks over, Jenny thanks all of them. Missouri smiles "Don't you be strangers." "We won't." Averie says "See you around." Jenny waves, they smile, get in the car and drive away.

~Missouri's house~

She walks in and sits her purse down "That boy...he has such powerful abilities. But why he couldn't sense his own father, I have no idea." she looks over at Ethan, who is sitting on the couch, "Madison's spirit, you really think she saved the kids?" she softly smiles "I do.." he sadly twists the wedding ring on his finger. "Ethan Walker, I should slap you, why don't you go talk to your children?" he tears up "I want to. You have no idea how much I wanna see 'em. But I can't. Not yet. Not until I know the truth."


	11. Asylum

~ROOSEVELT ASYLUM. ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.~

A deserted building, graffiti and rubbish everywhere, torch light loves along the walls. A chain across the door is cut. A police car pulls up, two officers get out and walk up to the chain link fence. Gunderson sighs "Can't keep kids out of this place." Kelly looks at him "What is it, anyway?" "I forgot, you're not a local. You don't know the legend." "Legend?" "Every town's got it's stories, right? Ours is Roosevelt Asylum. They say it's haunted with the ghosts of the patients. Spend the night, the spirits will drive you insane." they walk into the Asylum turning their flashlights on. "Hello? Police Officers...Po-lice Officers!" Gunderson calls out, they see the broken chain on the floor "You telling me these kids brought bolt-cutters? C'mon. Let's split up." "Okay." 

Kelly walks down a hall, "Hello? Anyone here?" it's eerie quiet, he shakes off the feeling of someone watching him. Gunderson wanders into a different room, his expression changes, he sees 3 kids. He shines his flashlight on them "Alright, c'mon out." Kelly's flashlight goes out, he shakes it. A door creaks open, there's something watching him. He turns to look at the door and sees nothing. 

Outside Gunderson watches as the kids drive away, he reaches for his radio "Kelly, you copy?" Kelly suddenly appears behind him "Jeez! Where the hell you been?" "In there..." "What was it? See anything?" "Huh? No." they return to the police car. Gunderson picks up the car radio "This is patrol one four. We are clear and returning to station." " _Roger_." the dispatch responds. Kelly's nose starts bleeding, he slowly wipes his nose.

~WALTER KELLY'S HOUSE~

He walks up to his room, a woman is reading in bed "Hey sweetie." he ignores her and lines up his keys, gun, etc. on the top of a dresser. Gia sighs and looks at him "So, what? You're still not talking to me? Walt! I said I was sorry about before – how many times do I have to say it?" he picks up the gun and shoots her in the head, then turns the gun on himself and shoots.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew sits on the phone "No, Dad was in California last we heard from him. We just thought...he comes to you for 'munitions....maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks. Just, call us if you hear anything." " _'kay."_ "Thanks." " _You bet."_ Averie looks over at him "Caleb hasn't heard from him either?" "Nope. And neither has Jefferson or . What about the journal? Anything leads in there?" "No, same as last time I looked. Nothing I can make out.... I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like friggin' Yoda." He sighs and looks over at her "You know, maybe we should call the Feds. File a missing person's." "We've talked about this. Dad'd be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail." "I don't care anymore." Averie's cellphone rings, she gets up and walks over to her duffel bag. Andrew continues "After all that happened back in Kansas, I mean...he should've been there, Dean. You said so yourself. You tried to call him and...nothing." "I know!" she digs through the bag "Where the hell is my cellphone?" " You know he could be dead for all we know." she glares at him "Don't say that! He's not dead! He's – he's..." "He's what? He's hiding? He's _busy_?" 

She finds and flips open the phone, on the screen it says:  
From: Unavailable  
Subject: Message: 42, -89

She stares at it for a minute "Huh? I don't believe it." she mutters "What?" "It's, uh....It's a text message. It's coordinates." She plops down onto the bed and begins typing on the computer "You think Dad was texting us?" he asks "He's given us coordinates before." "The man can barely work a _toaster_ , Av." "Andy, this is good! It means he's okay, or alive at least." "Well, was there a number on the caller ID?" "Nah, it said 'unknown'." he sits down next to her "Where do the coordinates point?" "That's the interesting part. Rockford, Illinois." "Ok, and that's interesting how?" she opens a new tab "I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this. This cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth, blows his brains out. And earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum." "I'm not following. What does that have to do with us?" "Dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal. Let's see..."

Averie flips through the journal "Here. Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths – till last week at least. I think this is where he wants us to go." Andrew snorts "This is a job... Dad wants us to work a job." "Well, maybe we'll meet up with him? Maybe he's there?" "Maybe he's not? I mean, he could be sending us there, by ourselves, to hunt this thing." "Who cares! If he wants us there, it's good enough for me!" "This doesn't strike you as weird? The texting? The coordinates?" "Andrew! Dad's tellin' us to go somewhere, we're _goin'_." he sighs.

~BAR. ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.~

Gunderson sits at the bar drinking a beer "You're Daniel Gunderson. You're a cop, right?" Averie asks coming up behind him, he turns and looks at her as she sits next to him "Yeah." "Huh. I'm uh, Nigel Tufnel, The Chicago Tribune. Mind if I ask you a couple of questions, about your partner?" "Yeah, I do. I'm just tryin' to have a beer here." "That's okay, I swear it won't take that long. I just want to get the story in your words." he glares at her "A week ago, my partner was sitting in that chair. Now he's dead. You gonna ambush me _here_?" "Sorry. But I need to know what happened." Andrew comes over and shoves Averie aside roughly "Hey buddy, why don't you leave the poor guy alone! The man's an officer! Why dontcha show a little respect!" she stands there, staring at him, then walks away. Gunderson looks at Andrew "You didn't havta do that." "Yeah, course I did. That girl's a serious jerk. Let me buy you a beer, huh?" he looks at barman "Two?" "Thanks."

A little while later Andrew walks out of the bar, Averie is sitting on the hood of the Impala "Shoved me kinda hard in there, buddy boy." "I had to sell it, didn't I? It's method acting." "Huh?" "Never mind." "What'd you find out from Gunderson?" "So, Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, even-keeled, he had a bright future ahead of him." "What about at home?" he sighs "He and his wife had a few fights, like everybody, but he was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids." she nods "Alright, so either Kelly had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out, or something else did it to him." "Right." "What'd Gunderson tell you about the asylum?" "A lot."

~ROOSEVELT ASYLUM~

They climb the tall chain link fence and enter, Andrew looks around a bit "So apparently the cops chased the kids here....into the south wing." he points at the sign over the one door "South wing, huh? Wait a second" she flips through Ethan's journal. "1972. Three kids broke into the south wing, only one survived. Way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place." "So whatever's going on, the south wing is the heart of it." "But if the kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren't there a ton more deaths?" Andrew sees the broken chain "Looks like the doors are usually chained. Could've been chained up for years." Averie picks the chain up "Yeah, to keep people out. Or to keep something in." he looks at her before slowly pushing the door open.

They walk down the hallway, Averie elbows Andrew "Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel." he sighs "Dude, enough." "I'm serious. You gotta be careful, all right? Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you got going on." "It's not ESP! I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams." "Yeah, whatever. Don't ask, don't tell." she looks down at the EMF meter "You get any reading on that thing or not?" "Nope. Of course, it doesn't mean no one's home." "Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day." "Yeah, the freaks come out at night." "Yeah." Averie looks at him and asks deadpan "Hey Andy, who do you think is the hotter psychic: Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?" he shoves her as she laughs

They enter the Electroshock room, Averie whistles "Man. Electro-shock. Lobotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people. Kinda like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest." she does crazy eyes and grins at Andrew, he ignores her and continues searching, her smile drops and she starts looking around. "So. Whaddaya think? Ghosts possessing people?" she asks "Maybe. Or maybe it's more like Amityville, or the Smurl hunting." "Spirits driving them insane. Kinda like my man Jack in The Shining." she smiles, "Averie." she turns and looks at him "When are we going to talk about it?" "Talk about what?" "About the fact Dad's not here." "How about..never." "I'm being serious, man. He sent us here..."

Averie sighs "So am I, Andy. Look, he sent us here, he obviously wants us here. We'll pick up the search later." "It doesn't matter what he wants." "See. That attitude? Right there? That is why I always get the extra cookie." "Dad could be in trouble, we should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Averie. I mean, this is our family we're talking about." "I understand that, but he gave us an order." "So what, we gotta always follow Dad's orders?" "Of course we do." Andrew gives her a frustrated look, she stares at him then turns away trying to forget a bad memory. She starts poking around and sees a sign, she picks it up " 'Sanford Ellicott'...You know what we gotta do. We gotta find out more about the south wing. See if something happened here." she sits it down and walks away. Andrew stares at it.

~DR. JAMES ELLICOTT'S WAITING ROOM~

Andrew sits on the couch flipping through a magazine. A man opens the door, the sign reads 'Dr James Ellicott, Clinical Psychiatry'. "Andrew Walker?" James asks, Andrew stands up "That's me." "Come in." they walk into the room "Thanks again for seeing me last minute." he says while looking around "Dr...Ellicott. Ellicott, that name. Wasn't there a...a Dr. Sanford Ellicott? Yeah, he was a chief psychiatrist somewhere." James looks at him "My father was chief of staff at the old Roosevelt Asylum. How did you know?" "Ah. Well, I'm sorta...a local history buff. Hey, wasn't there, an incident or something? In the hospital, I guess. In the south wing, right?" "We're on your dollar, Andrew, we're here to talk about you." "Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Sure." 

"So. How's things?" Andrew nibbles on his lip "Ah, things are good, doctor." "Good. Whatcha been doing?" "Ahh, same old. I just been on a... on a road trip with my sister." "Was that fun?" he goes silent for a little "Loads. Umm. You know, we...ahh...we...met...a lot of ...interesting people. Did a lot of ...ah...interesting things...ahhh. You know? What was it exactly that happened in the south wing? I forget..." "Look, if you're a local history buff, you know all about the Roosevelt riot." "The riot. Well, no. I know. I'm just curious." James sighs "Andrew, let's cut the bull. You're avoiding the subject." "What subject?" "You. Now I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you all about the Roosevelt riot, if you tell me something honest about yourself. Like, uh, this sister you're road tripping with. How do you feel about her?" Andrew looks panicked.

Averie leans against glass windows next to the office, looking bored, Andrew walks past. She catches up and matches his pace "Dude! You were in there forever. What the hell were you talking about?" "Just the hospital, you know." "And...?" "And the south wing? It's where the housed the really hard cases. The psychotics, the criminally insane." "Sounds cozy." "Yeah. And one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked staff. Attacked each other." "So the patients took over the asylum?" "Apperentaly." "Any deaths?" he nods "Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never even recovered, including our chief of staff, Ellicott." Averie scrunches her eyebrows "Whaddaya mean, never recovered?" "Cops scoured every inch of the place but I guess the patients must've...stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden." "That's grim." "Yeah. So, they transferred all the remaining patients and closed the hospital down." "So, to sum it up, we've got a bunch of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies." "And a bunch of angry spirits." "Good times. Let's check out the hospital tonight."

~ROOSEVELT ASYLUM, NIGHT~

The door creaks open, a young man and woman enter. Gavin, the guy, smiles "Check this out! Creepy...yet terrifying." Katherine frowns "I thought we were going to a movie." "This is better. It's like we're in a movie." "I can't believe you call this a date." "C'mon, it'll be fun. Let's look around. C'mon!" he leads her down the hall. He hears something "What's that?" she turns, he pokes her and she jumps, then hits his arm. He smiles "Hey look. C'mon, let's check it out." "I...don't want to. Let's just go." "C'mon!" they stare at each other. Gavin sighs "Okay. Okay, you can wait here." "W-Gavin no!" "I'm just gonna be a minute. Nothing's gonna get ya, I promise."

Gavin moves into the next room alone. The door slams behind him. He looks at it, grins, and keeps going. In the doorway a female figure with long hair is seen in shadow just as his flashlight fails. "Damnit." he turns around, Katherine is standing there "Hey, Sweetie. Couldn't take it, huh?" she puts her hands on his face, they start making out. In the distance Katherine is yelling "Gavin? Gavin? Where are you?" he pushes the fake Katherine away.

Back at the entrance Andrew pushes the door open, Averie follows him in. He holds a camera, and she carries a EMF meter "Getting readings?" he asks "Yeah, big time." "This place is orbing like crazy." she nods "Probably multiple spirits out and about." "And if these uncovered bodies are causing the haunting..." "We gotta find 'em and burn 'em. Just be careful though. The only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit... is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer." They split up, Andrew sees an old woman through the camera lens; white haired, one eye bloody hanging out, moving towards him. "Averie? Averie!!" she runs into the room rummaging through the bag "Shotgun!" "Andy, get down!" he drops to the ground and she shoots the lady. The lady disintegrates.

They look around "That was weird." "Yeah, you're tellin me." she leaves the room, he follows behind her "No, Av, I mean it was weird that she didn't attack me." "Looked pretty aggro from where I was standing." "She didn't hurt me. She didn't even try! So if she didn't wanna hurt me then what did she want?" A noise comes from a room they are passing. Averie immediately raises her shotgun and Andrew flicks on the flashlight and shines it into the room. They approach a metal bed covered in a ragged sheet, on its side. They see the top of a blonde head behind it. They brace themselves, Andrew reaches out and tips the bed over. Katherine from earlier is crouched facing the corner. She turns around, terrified and gasping. "It's alright, we're not going to hurt you. It's okay. What's your name?" Averie says stepping next to her "Katherine. _Kat._ " "Okay. I'm Averie, this is Andrew." 

Andrew looks at Katherine "What are you doing here?" "Um, my boyfriend Gavin." "Is he here?" "Somewhere. He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just...you know. Pretend. I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and..." "Alright. Kat? Come on. Andrew's gonna get you out of here and then we're gonna find your boyfriend." Averie says. "No! No. I'm not going to leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you." "It's no joke around here, okay. It's dangerous." "That's why I have to find him!" Averie and Andrew look at each other, he shrugs "Alright, I guess we're gonna split up then. Let's go."

Andrew walks down a hall "Gavin? Gavin?" he calls out. Kat and Averie walk down a different hall "Gavin?" Katherine says "I got a question for ya. You've seen a lot of horror movies, yeah?" "I guess so." she turns to face her "Do me a favor. Next time you see one? Pay attention. When someone says a place is haunted...don't go in!" as they move on a dark shape crosses the window. Andrew sees Gavin on the ground, unconscious and crouches to shake him. Gavin wakes and freaks out "Hey, Gavin. It's okay, I'm here to help." "Who are you?" "My name's Andrew, we found your girlfriend." "Kat?" he gets up "Is she alright?" "Yeah. She's worried about you. Are you okay?" "I was running. I think I fell." "You were running from what?" Gavin sighs "There was...there was this girl. Her face. It was all messed up." "Okay listen, did this girl... did she try and hurt you?" "What? No, she, uh.." "She what?" "She...kissed me." "Uh...um...but...but she didn't hurt you, physically?" "Dude! She kissed me. I'm scarred for life!" Andrew shakes his head "Well, trust me, it could have been worse. Now do you remember anything else?" "She uh...actually, she tried to whisper something in my ear." "What?" "I don't know, I ran like hell."

Averie and Katherine are in a hallway, Averie leading, the flashlight goes out "Oh you son of a bitch." she digs in her pocket and pulls out a lighter, Katherine turns and looks away from her. "It's okay, I have a lighter." "Ow. You're hurting my arm." "What are you talking about?" They turn to look at each other, realize they're too far apart to be touching, and look down. A disembodied hand is clutching her arm. Katherine is dragged into a room, the metal door slamming behind her. Averie runs over to it and starts trying to pull it open, Katherine bangs on it from the inside, it doesn't budge. She continues struggling with the door "Lemme out, please!" "Kat! Hold on, I'm trying!" Averie smashes at the door with a metal pipe, then tries to jimmy it open. Inside, Kathrine slowly backs up, looking at the door. Someone stands behind her, breathing heavily. When she spins around there is no one there. Averie continues banging on the door. Katherine turns again and sees the ghost. Tall, heavyset, long dark oily hair, his face a bloody mess. She screams and backs up to the door...and backs into him, she screams again.

Andrew runs down the hall to them, Gavin following behind "What happened?" "She's inside with one of them." Katherine screams "Help me!" Gavin runs to the door "Kat!" she slides down against the door as the ghost approaches her "Get me outta here!" Andrew steps to the door "Kat, it's not going to hurt you. Listen to me. You've got to face it. You've got to calm down." Averie turns to him "She's gotta what?!" "I've gotta what?!" she yells "These spirits, they're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to communicate. You gotta face it. You gotta listen to it." "You face it!" "No! It's the only way to get out of there." "NO!" "Look at it, come on. You can do it." Kat, taking deep breaths, turns to face the ghost. He leans in close to her face.

"Kat?" Gavin asks, Averie looks at Andrew "Man, I hope you're right about this." "Yeah, me too." They wait outside the door in tense silence. The lock clicks and the door slowly opens. She is standing in the doorway "Oh Kat." Gavin hugs her. Andrew goes into the room, he comes back out and shakes his head. "One-thirty seven." She says, Averie looks at her "Excuse me?" "It whispered in my ear. 137." Andrew and Averie look at each other and say insync "Room number." 

They stand behind a wall, where Gavin and Katherine can't hear them "Alright. So if these spirits aren't trying to hurt anyone...." Andrew says "Then what are they trying to do?" "Maybe that's what they've been trying to tell us..." "I guess we'll find out." "Alright." Averie walks out from behind the wall "So, now, are you guys ready to leave this place?" Katherine nods "That's an understatement." "Okay." she turns to Andrew "You get them out of here, I'll go to room 137."

Andrew leads them down a hall "So. How do you guys know about all this ghost stuff?" Katherine asks "It's kinda our job." "Why would anyone want a job like that?" he chuckles "I had a crappy guidance counselor." "And Averie? She's your boss?" "No."

Averie moves down a hallway and shines the flashlight on room 137. She pushes against the door, using her weight to push aside the broken furniture blocking it. The room is a mess, filing cabinets pushed over, papers everywhere, the walls stained. She shines the flashlight around, flicks through some folders lying in a cabinet, keeps looking.

Andrew jogs down a hallway and tries the door, it's locked, he tries another one but it's also locked. "Alright. I think we have a small problem." Gavin sighs "Then break it down!" "I don't think that's gonna work." "Then a window." Katherine grabs his arm "They're barred." "Then how are we supposed to get out?" Andrew looks at them "That's the point. We're not. There's something in here. It doesn't want us to leave." she frowns "Those patients.." "No. Something else."

Averie is still searching the room. She finds a loose panel and pries it off. Behind it is a satchel full of papers. "This is why I get paid the big bucks." Inside is a journal with many notes and hand-drawn pictures of medical instruments. She pulls up a chair and starts reading, looking concerned. "Well all work and no play makes Dr. Ellicott a _very_ dull boy." a sound makes her look up.

He walks back down the hallway to Gavin and Katherine "Alright, I've looked everywhere. There's no other way out." "So what the hell are we gonna do?" Gavin asks "Well for starters, we're not gonna panic." "Why the hell not!" Andrew's phone rings he answers it, Averie on a bad line says "Andy, it's me, I see it. It's coming for me." "Where are you?" "I'm in the basement. Hurry up!" "I'm on my way." he hangs up and looks at them. "Alright, can either of you handle a shotgun?" Gavin shakes his head, Katherine nods "I can." Gavin looks at her shocked "My dad took me skeet shooting a coupla times." Andrew hands her a gun "Alright, here. It's loaded with rock salt. It may not kill a spirit, but it will repel it. So if you see something, shoot."

-Basement-

Andrew runs searching hallways and rooms "Averie?!" His flashlight flickers and fades. He shakes and taps it. A door behind him swings open. He raises his shot gun and approaches carefully. "Averie?" A shadow moves behind a ragged curtain, drawing his attention. When he pulls the curtain back there's no one there. He turns....and an old beaten up man with ragged hair and clothes grabs his face. His hands start glowing. "Don't worry, I'm gonna make you feel all better."

-With Gavin & Kat-

Gavin paces, Kat crouches against the wall holding the shotgun. "Hey Gavin?" "Yeah?" "If we make it out of here alive...we are so breaking up." They hear a noise around the corner and both look, Kat stands up. "Did you hear that?" "Something's coming." Averie comes around the corner and sees Katherine just as she pulls the trigger. She throws herself back around the corner "Damn it, damn it, don't shoot! It's me!" "Sorry!" "Son of a ..." she comes round the corner and looks at the marks left in the wall "What are you still doing here!? Where's Andrew?" "He went to the basement. You called him." "I didn't call anybody." "His cell phone rang. He said it was you." Gavin says confused. "Basement, huh?" she grabs a few extra weapons "Alright. Watch yourselves....and watch out for me!"

-Basement-

Averie goes from room to room "Andy! Andrew! You here?! Andrew! Andrew?!" she turns around, Andrew is standing right behind her. She jumps back, automatically raising her shotgun "Man, answer me when I'm calling you! You alright?" "Yeah, I'm alright." "You know it wasn't me who called your cell, right?" "Yeah, I know. I think something lured me down here." she sighs "I think I know who. Dr. Ellicott. That's what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you?" "No. How do you know it was him?" "'Cause I found his log book. Apparently he was experimenting on his patients, awful stuff. Makes lobotomies look like a coupla aspirin." "But it was the patients who rioted." she nods "Yeah. They were rioting against Dr. Ellicott. Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, like, extreme rage therapy. He thought that if he could get his patients to vent their anger then they would be cured of it. Instead it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier. So I'm thinking, what if his spirit is doing the same thing? To the cop? To the kids in the seventies, making them so angry they become homicidal.... Come on, we gotta find his bones and torch 'em."

Andrew looks at her confused "How? Police never found the body." "The log book said he had some sort of hidden procedure room down here somewhere where he'd work on his patients. So, if I was a patient I'd drag his ass down here, do a little work on it myself." "I don't know, it sounds kind of.." "Crazy?" "Yeah." "Exactly." Averie opens another door, looks inside, then gestures with her head for him to follow. Andrew gives her a stealthy, sly look before following. "I told you I looked everywhere. I didn't find a hidden room." "Well, that's why they call it hidden..." there's a wind sound, she smiles "You hear that?" "What?" She looks around, crouching with her hand near the wall "There's a door here." 

Andrew raises his gun and points it at Averie, blood runs out of his nose "Averie, step away from the door." she turns around and stands up, her eyes go from the gun to his face. "Andy, put the gun down." "Is that an order?" "Nah, it's more of a friendly request." he points the gun at her chest "'Cause I'm getting pretty tired of taking your orders." "I knew it. Ellicott did something to you." "For once in your life, just shut your mouth!" she laughs "What are you gonna do, Andrew? Gun's filled with rock salt. It's not gonna kill me." he shoots her in the chest. The shot blasts her backwards through the hidden door to fall on the floor. "No, but it'll hurt like hell." 

Averie lays on the floor gasping for breath "Andrew!" he stands over her "We gotta burn Ellicott's bones and all this will be over, and you'll be back to normal." he laughs "I am normal. I'm just telling the truth for the first time. I mean, why are we even here? 'Cause you're following Dad's orders like a good little solider? Because you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?" "This ain't you talking Andrew." "That's the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own. I'm not pathetic, like you." "What're you gonna do? Huh? Kill me?" "You know what, I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. We're no closer to finding Dad today than we were six months ago."

She nods "Well, then here. Let me make it easier for you." she hands him her pistol "Come on. Take it. Real bullets are gonna work a hell of a lot better than rock salt." he stands there for a minute "Take it!" he takes the pistol and points it at her face. "You hate me that much? You think you could kill your own sister? Then go ahead. Pull the trigger. Do it!" he pulls the trigger, the chamber's empty. He tries again, and once more. Averie uses a right cross to knock Andrew to the ground and struggles to get up. "Man, I'm not going to give you a loaded pistol!" he glares at her, she delivers another vicious right cross to knock him out, almost falling as she does so. "I'm so sorry Andy."

Averie begins looking around the room, pushing back ragged curtains with his pistol. Dr. Ellicott glides past but she doesn't notice. She sees a tuft of something poking out of the corner of a closed cupboard and moves closer. She opens the door to find a mummified corpse and flinches back from the smell, gagging. "Oh, that's just gross." she picks up the salt container and pours it on the body "Soak it up." Averie drops the salt container and grabs a small tin of kerosene, squirting the body. A gurney comes flying across the room and knocks him to the ground. Dr. Ellicott grabs her face and his hands light up "Don't be afraid. I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you all better." She struggles to reach her bag, with one hand, finds her lighter, flicks it on and tosses it at the mummified body. He lets go of her as his remains start to burn. Averie crawls out of the way and watches as Dr, Ellicott's ghost turns black and falls to the ground, crumbling on impact.

Andrew wakes up and she looks over at him as he flexes his jaw painfully. "You're not going to try and kill me, are ya?" he raises his hand to feel his jaw "No." "Good. Because that would be awkward."

~ROOSEVELT ASYLUM, OUTSIDE, DAYBREAK~

Katherine and Gavin stand together "Thanks, guys." "Yeah. Thanks." Averie smiles "No more haunted asylums, okay?" Katherine nods. They watch them walk toward their car, then turn to the Impala "Hey, Av." she turns and looks at him "I'm sorry. I said some awful things back there." "You remember all that?" "Yeah. It's like I couldn't control it. But I didn't mean it, any of it." "You didn't, huh?" "No, of course not!" she starts walking away, he grabs her arm "Do we need to talk about this?" "No. I'm not really in the sharing and caring kinda mood. I just wanna get some sleep."

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie is asleep, Andrew lays awake in bed. Averie's phone starts ringing, he reaches across the gap in between the beds and shakes her "Averie." She doesn't move, he frowns and grabs her phone from the end table and checks the number, then flips it open. "Hello?" " _Andrew?_ " he sits straight up "Dad?"


	12. Scarecrow

_Recently in "The Family Business is Back"_

_Averie lays asleep in bed, Andrew lays awake, her phone goes off. He reaches over the gap in between the beds and shakes her "Averie." She doesn't move, he frowns and grabs her phone from the end table and checks the number, then flips it open. "Hello?" "Andrew?" "Dad?"_

~MOTEL ROOM. ROCKFORD ILLINOIS~

Andrew sits in bed, he tries waking Averie up again "Andrew? Is that you?" Ethan asks "Dad? Are you hurt?" "I'm fine." "We've been looking for you everywhere. We didn't know where you were, if you were okay." "Andy, I'm all right. What about you and Averie?" he looks over at Averie, who is finally waking up. "We're fine. Dad, where are you?" she sits up automatically "Sorry, kiddo, I can't tell you that." "What, why not?" she taps Andrew's shoulder "Is that Dad?" "Look, I know this is hard for you to understand. You're just gonna have to trust me on this." "You're after it, aren't you? The thing that killed Mom." "Yeah, and it's a demon, Andrew." "A demon? You know for sure?" Averie looks at him "A demon? Andy, what's he saying?"

Andrew hears Ethan sigh "I do. Listen, Andy, I, uh...I also know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm so sorry. I would've done anything to protect you from that." "You know where it is?" "Yeah, I think I'm finally closing in on it." "Let us help." "You can't. You can't be any part of it." "Why?" she hits his arm "Give me the phone." "Listen, that's why I'm calling. You and your sister, you gotta stop looking for me. Alright, now, I need you to write down these names." "Names? What names, Dad—talk to me, tell me what's going on." "Look, we don't have time for this. This is bigger than you think, they're everywhere. Even us talking right now, it's not safe." "No. Alright? No way." she hits his shoulder again "Give me the phone." "I have given you an order. Now, you stop following me, and you do your job. You understand me? Now, take down these names."

Averie grabs the phone from Andrew "Dad, it's me. Where are you?" "I can't tell you, I need you to listen to me Averie." "Yes sir." "You got something to write with?" "Uh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?" she grabs the notepad and pen from the stand. 

~IMPALA. ON THE ROAD~

"Alright, so, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?" Andrew asks, driving "Three different couples. All went missing." Averie says looking at the stuff she wrote down "And they're all from different towns? Different states?" "That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again." "Well, it's a big country, Averie. They could've disappeared anywhere." "Yeah, could've. But each one's route took 'em to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another." "This is the second week of April." he says "Yep." "So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" "Yahtzee. Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master." Averie says, Andrew sighs and pulls the car over, then turns it off.

"What are you doing?" she asks "We're not going to Indiana." "We're not?" "No. We're going to California. Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code." "Andrew.." "Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Hannah, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help." "Dad doesn't want our help." she says, he looks out the front window "I don't care." "He's given us an order." "I don't care. We don't always have to do what he says." "Andy, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it's important." "Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge." "Alright, look, I know how you feel." Averie puts a hand on his cheek, Andrew glares at her "Do you?" shocked by his tone, she drops her hand "How old were you when Mom died? _Four_? Hannah died six months ago. How the _hell_ would you know how I _feel_?" 

"Dad said it wasn't safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away." she says "I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it's like you don't even question him." "Yeah, it's called being a good kid!" Andrew, angry, gets out of the car. Averie also gets out and watches him unloading things from the trunk "You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don't care what anybody thinks." he looks up at her hurt "That's what you really think?" "Yes. It is." "Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California." his voice cracking from sadness, he puts his backpack on and starts walking away.

"Come on! You can't be serious!" Averie yells "I'm serious." "It's the middle of the night! Hey, I'm taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me?" Andrew turns around "That's what I want you to do." "Goodbye _Andrew_." she closes the trunk, gets in the car, and drives away, starting to cry. He watches her leave, then starts walking away.

~BURKITTSVILLE, INDIANA.~

Averie pulls over to the side of the road and pulls out her cell phone. She selects the name "Andrew Mobile" and thinks about calling him. She changes her mind and closes the cell phone, then shuts off the Impala and gets out.

She walks up the stairs of Scotty's Cafe, Scotty is sitting in a chair on the porch "Let me guess, you're Scotty." she asks pointing at the sign "Yep." "Hi, my name's Nicole Bonham." "Are you related to the drummer for Led Zepplin?" "Wow. Good. Classic rock fan." "What can I do for you, Nicole?" Averie takes two pieces of paper out of his pocket. They are Missing Person flyers for Holly and Vince Parker. "I was wondering if, uh, you'd seen these people by chance." he looks at the flyers "Nope. Who are they?" "Friends of mine. They went missing about a year ago. They passed through somewhere around here, and I've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem—" "Sorry." he hands her the flyers back "We don't get many strangers around here." she nods "Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?" Scotty looks at her weirdly, she chuckles "Never mind. See you around."

~HIGHWAY. MORNING~

Andrew is standing on the side of the road. He turns around and sees a young girl with short blonde hair, Olivia, sitting with her back to him, she is listening to music, she kind of reminds him of Averie. "Hey." she doesn't hear him. He walks over to her and puts his hand on her shoulder, she jumps and takes off her headphones. "You scared the hell outta me." "I'm sorry. I just thought you might need some help." "No. I'm good, thanks." "Uh, so where you headed?" "No offense, but no way I'm telling you." "Why not?" "You could be some kind of freak. I mean, you are hitchhiking." "So are you." Olivia laughs, Andrew laughs slightly.

A van honks the horn and pulls over "Need a ride?" they both look at him "Yeah." the van driver looks at him "Just her. I ain't takin' you." She grabs her stuff "You trust shady van guy and not me?" "Definitely." she gets in the van and they drive off.

~JORGESON GENERAL STORE. BURKITTSVILLE, INDIANA.~

Averie stands at the desk showing the flyers to Harley "You sure they didn't stop for gas or something?" Harley shows them to Stacy, then turns back to her "Nope, don't remember 'em. You said they were friends of yours?" "That's right." Peter comes downstairs carrying boxes "Did the guy have a tattoo?" he asks "Yes, he did." he looks at Vince's picture then turns to the other two "You remember? They were just married." Harley suddenly remembers "You're right. They did stop for gas. Weren't here more than ten minutes." Averie nods "You remember anything else?" "I told 'em how to get back to the Interstate. They left town." "Could you point me in that same direction?" "Sure."

~IMPALA~

Averie drives by the orchard when she hears a noise coming from the backseat. "What the hell?" she pulls over and reaches into her bag. She pulls out the EMF meter, which is beeping frantically. She gets out and walks into the orchard, the scarecrow is hanging, she stands in front of it and looks at it "Dude, you fugly." The scarecrow doesn't move. Averie notices a sickle in the scarecrow's hand and a design on its arm. She takes a ladder from a nearby tree and climbs to the top so that she is eye level with the scarecrow. She moves its sleeve and recognizes the design from Vince's tattoo. She pulls out the flyer and compares the designs, which are exactly the same. She looks at the scarecrow again "Nice tat."

~BURKITTSVILLE GAS STATION~

Averie pulls up and gets out, Peter is standing by the gas pumps "You're back." he says, "Never left." "Still looking for your friends?" she nods and sees his nameplate bracelet. "You mind fillin' her up there, Peter?" he grabs a pump and starts filling the Impala "So, you grew up here?" she asks "I came here when I was thirteen. I lost my parents. Car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in." "They're nice people." he chuckles "Everybody's nice here." "So, what, it's the, uh, perfect little town?" "Well, you know, it's the boonies. But I love it. I mean, the towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it's almost like we're blessed." Averie nods "You been out to the orchard? You seen that scarecrow?" "Yeah, it creeps me out." they both laugh. "Whose is it?" "I don't know. It's just always been there."

She sees a red van parked by the garage "That your aunt and uncle's?" "Customer. Had some car troubles." "It's not a couple, is it? A guy and a girl?" "It is actually is."

~BUS STATION, ILLINOIS~

Andrew is talking to the clerk "Sorry, the Sacramento bus doesn't run again till tomorrow." she looks at the schedule "5:05pm." "Tomorrow? There's got to be another way." "There is, buy a car." he sighs and walks away. He takes out his phone and dials Averie's number, but stops himself from calling, Olivia is sitting on the floor with her stuff and sees him "Hey." he turns around and sees her. "Hi." "You again." she says jokingly "What happened to your ride?" "You were right. That guy was shady. He was all hands. I cut him loose." Andrew looks around, slightly disappointed, she looks at him "What's wrong?" "Just trying to get to California." "No way." she says surprised.

"Yeah?" he says confused "Me too." she gets up and walks over to him and says "You know, the next bus isn't until tomorrow." "Yeah. Yeah, that's the problem." "Why? What's in Cali that's so important?" he sighs "Just something I've been looking for. For a long time." "Well, then I'm sure it can wait one more day, right?" he smiles, she holds her hand out "I'm Olivia." he shakes it "Andrew."

~SCOTTY'S CAFE~

Scotty is serving the couple whose car broke down. He puts two plates of apple pie in front of them "We're famous for our apples. So, you gotta try this pie." the girl, Meg, looks at him "Oh, no. It—please." "It's on the house." Averie walks in. "Oh, hey, Scotty. Can I get a coffee, black?" he nods and walks away to make the coffee "Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you're at it." she sits at the table next to Meg and Steve "How ya doin'?" Steve smiles "Hi." "Just passing through?" "Road trip." "Hm. Yeah, me too." Scotty walks over to refill their cider and sits Averie's coffee and pie down " I'm sure these people want to eat in peace." "Just a little friendly conversation." 

He walks away looking agitated, Averie continues talking to them "So, what brings you to town?" Meg pipes up "We just stopped for gas. And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives." "Oh is that right?" "Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking. We had no idea. He was fixing it for us." she starts getting concerned for them "Nice people." "Yeah." "So how long til you're up and running?" "Sundown." "Really." she thinks for a moment "To fix a brake line? I mean, you know, I know a thing or two about cars. I could probably have you up and running in about an hour. I wouldn't charge you anything."

Meg chuckles "You know, thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it." Averie nods "Sure. You know, it's just that these roads. They're not real safe at night." Steve and Meg look at each other. "I'm sorry?" "I know it sounds strange, but, uh—you might be in danger." Steve cuts in "Look, we're trying to eat. Okay?" "Yeah.." she looks disappointed, the couple looks at her worried. "You know, my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you'd just buy right into it. _I kind of miss him_." she mutters the last part.

The bell above the cafe door jingles and someone walks in. Scotty comes out from a back room "Thanks for coming, Sheriff." Averie shifts in her seat and starts eating her apple pie. He whispers something in the sheriff's ear, and they both look at Averie, who looks away. Alex walks over to her "I'd like a word, please." "Come on. I'm having a bad day already." "You know what would make it worse?" he says motioning to the handcuffs. 

Alex drives behind Averie making sure she leaves town. When she is gone, Alex turns around and drives back to Burkittsville.

~BUS STATION~

Andrew and Olivia are sitting at a table with beer and food, "So, what, are you on some kind of vacation or something?" she laughs "Yeah, right. It's all sipping Cristal poolside for me." they both laugh "No. I had to get away from my family." "Why?" "I love my parents. And they wanted what's best for me. They just didn't care if I wanted it. I was supposed to be smart. But not smart enough to scare away a husband. It's just...because my family said so, I was supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my own way instead." he gives her a sympathetic look "I'm sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know." "No, no, it's okay. I know how you feel. Remember that sister I mentioned before, that I was road-tripping with?" she nods "It's, uh, it's kind of the same deal." "And that's why you're not riding with her anymore?" Andrew smiles "Yeah." Olivia raises her beer bottle. "Here's to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard. But at least we're living our own lives. And nobody else's." He raises his beer bottle, they clink and both drink.

~ORCHARD, NIGHT~

Steve and Meg's car broke down and they're walking through the orchard. "I can't believe it. We just got the car fixed." she says "This way." They start walking towards a clearing. The scarecrow moves quickly behind them. Meg gasps and they turn around "Steve, what was that?" there's more sounds "Who's there?" They look around and the scarecrow comes out from behind the trees. It begins walking towards them, and they start running away. They are almost at the clearing when Averie runs in front of them, they stop. "Get back to your car." she says, the scarecrow starts getting closer "Go!" The couple runs away. Averie cocks her gun and shoots the scarecrow, which stumbles but keeps walking. She begins running, cocking the gun again, and shoots. Again, the scarecrow keeps going. She tries one more time, but the scarecrow keeps moving. She starts running faster "Go! Go!"

The three of them reach the clearing, "What—what the hell was that?" Steve asks, Averie reloads the gun "Don't ask."

~BUS STATION, NIGHT~

Olivis is sleeping on the floor, leaning on Andrew, he is sitting by his bags, on the phone with Averie. "The scarecrow climbed off its cross?" he asks "Yeah, I'm tellin' ya. Burkittsville, Indiana. Fun Town." "It didn't kill the couple, did it?" "No. I can't cope without you, you know." he bites his lip "So, something must be animating it. A spirit." he can hear the fright in her voice "No, it's more than a spirit. It's a god. A Pagan god, anyway." "What makes you say that?" "The annual cycle of its killings? And the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. Like some kind of fertility right. And you should see the locals. The way they treated this couple. Fattenin' 'em up like a Christmas turkey." 

He sighs "The last meal. Given to sacrificial victims." "Yeah, I'm thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some Pagan god." "So, a god possesses the scarecrow..." "And the scarecrow takes its sacrifice. And for another year, the crops won't wilt, and disease won't spread." he starts worrying "Do you know which god you're dealing with?" "No, not yet." "Well, you figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it." "I know. I'm actually on my way to a local community college. I've got an appointment with a professor. You know, since I don't have my trusty sidekick geek boy to do all the research." Averie says, sarcasm leaking through. Andrew starts laughing "You know, if you're hinting you need my help, just ask." "I'm not hinting anything. Actually, uh—I want you to know..I lo...I mean, don't think...." 

"I'm sorry too." he says frowning "Andrew. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life." her voice cracks from sadness "Are you serious?" "You've always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway....I admire that about you. I'm proud of you, Andy." he sits in silence for a moment "I don't even know what to say." "Say you'll take care of yourself. Cause I can't lose you." "I will, and you stay safe too, please." "Call me when you find Dad." he frowns and sadly says "Okay, bye Av." he hangs up and sighs. Olivia sits up "Who was that?" she says yawning "My sister." "What'd she have to say?" "She said 'Goodbye.'"

~COLLEGE HALLWAY. INDIANA. DAY~

Averie and the professor are talking "It's not every day I get a research question on Pagan ideology." he says "Yeah, well, call it a hobby." "But you said you were interested in local lore?" she nods "I'm afraid Indiana isn't really known for its Pagan worship." "Well, what if it was imported? You know, like the Pilgrims brought their religion over. Wasn't a lot of this area settled by immigrants?" he looks at her "Well, yeah." "Like that town near here, Burkittsville. Where are their ancestors from?" he thinks for a moment "Uh, northern Europe, I believe, Scandinavia." she smiles "What could you tell me about those Pagan gods?" "Well, there are hundreds of Norse gods and goddesses." she sighs "I'm actually looking for one. Might live in an orchard."

They walk into a classroom, the professor sets a large book down. "Woods god, hm? Well, let's see." he leafs through some pages. On one page, Averie notices a picture of a scarecrow on a post surrounded by farmers in a field. "Wait, wait, wait. What's that one?" "Oh, that's not a woods god, per se." she looks at the page and tries pronouncing the name "The V-Vanir?" the professor nods, she keeps reading "The Vanir were Norse gods of protection and prosperity, keeping the local settlements safe from harm. Some villages built effigies of the Vanir in their fields. Other villages practiced human sacrifice. One male, and one female. Kind of looks like a scarecrow, huh?" he chuckles "I guess." she continues reading "This particular Vanir that's energy sprung from the sacred tree?" "Well, Pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic." "So what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it'd kill the god?"

The professor laughs "Kiddo, these are just legends we're discussing." "Oh, of course. Yeah, you're right. Listen, thank you very much." "Glad I could help." AVerie walks to the classroom door. When she opens it, Alex hits him on the head with the end of his rifle. She falls to the ground, and Alex and the professor exchange a knowing look.

~STREETS OF BURKITTSVILLE~

Stacy, Harley, Scotty, and Alex are standing in the rain, upset. "You don't understand, Harley. All of us here—It's our responsibility to protect the town." Scotty says "I understand. Better than all of you. I'm the one that gives 'em directions. I'm the one that sends 'em down to the orchard." Harley says angrily "Harley, please." Alex says "We all close our doors. Look the other way. Pretend we can't hear the screams. But this is different, this—this is murder." "It's angry with us. Already the trees are beginning to die. Tonight's the seventh night of the cycle. Our last chance." "If the girl has to die, she has to die. But why does it have to be him?" They say nothin and just look at each other.

~CELLER~

Averie is sitting on the floor alone. Suddenly, the cellar door opens and Peter is there, being held by his aunt and uncle, and is crying. "Aunt Stacy. Uncle Harley, please." they carry him down and put him next to Averie. "Why are you doing this?" he asks, Stacy looks at him "For the common good." She shuts the cellar door and Averie and Peter are left in the dark.

~BUS STATION~

Olivia is gathering her things. ANdrew is trying to call Averie on his cell phone. "Hey, our bus came in." she says "You better catch it. I gotta go." he puts his bookbag on. "Go where?" "Burkittsville." "Andrew, wait." she says catching up to him. "I've been trying to call my sister for the last three hours. I'm just getting her voicemail." "Maybe her phone's turned off?" he frowns "No, that's not like her. Liv, I think she might be in trouble." "What kind of trouble?" "I can't really explain right now. I'm sorry, look, I don't want you to miss your bus." "But I don't understand. You're running back to your sister? The girl you ran away from? Why, because she won't pick up her phone? Andrew—come with me to California." "I can't. I'm sorry." "Why?" "She's my family." Andrew walks away, Olivia watches him go, tearing up.

~CELLER~

Averie tries opening the celler door, but fails "I don't understand. They're gonna kill us?" he asks "Sacrifice us. Which is, I don't know, classier, I guess?" she walks over to him "You really didn't know anything about this, did you?" "About what? The scarecrow god? I can't believe this." "Well, you better start believing, cause I'm gonna need your help." he nods "Now, we can destroy the scarecrow, but we gotta find the tree." "What tree?" "Maybe you can help me with that. It would be really old. The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, you know, like it was sacred." Peter thinks for a minute "There was this one apple tree. The immigrants brought it over with them. They call it the First Tree." "Is it in the orchard?" "Yeah, but I don't know where" the celler door opens, the elders are standing there "It's time." Stacy says, Peter and Averie look at each other nervous.

They take them out to the orchard and tie them to adjacent trees "How many people have you killed, Sheriff? How much blood is on your hands?" Averie asks "We don't kill them." "No, but you sure cover up after. I mean, how many cars have you hidden, clothes have you buried?" Alex walks away. Peter looks at Harley "Uncle Harley, please." "I'm so sorry Pete, I wish it wasn't you." "Try to understand. It's our responsibility. And there's just no other choice. There's nobody else but you." Stacy says "I'm your family!" "Sweetheart, that's what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good. The town needs to be safe. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one."

The four of them walk away, Averie glares at them "I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!" Peter looks at her "So, what's the plan?" "I'm working on it."

-A few hours later-

"You don't have a plan do you?" Peter says "I'm workin' on it. Can you see?" Averie asks "What?" "It he moving yet?" "I can't see." A shadow is seen moving near the trees. "Oh my God!" As it moves closer, Averie tries to untie her ropes. "Oh my God!" he says. Andrew comes out from behind the trees "Averie?" he asks, she teras up from joy "Oh! Oh, I take everything back I said. I'm so happy to see you. Come on." he begins untying her from the tree. "How'd you get here?" "I, uh, I stole a car.." "Haha! That's my boy! And keep an eye on that scarecrow. He could come alive any minute." "What scarecrow?" Averie gets up and sees the scarecrow's post is empty. She and him exchange a nervous look.

They three of them run through the orchard "Alright, now, this sacred tree you're talking about—" Andrew gets cut off by Averie "It's the source of its power." "So let's find it and burn it." "Nah, in the morning. Let's just shag ass before Leatherface catches up." The three of them reach a clearing. Waiting for them are the elders and a few other townspeople. "This way.." she says. They turn around but they are blocked in all directions. "Please. Let us go." Peter says "It'll be over quickly, I promise." Harley says "Let us go!" "Peter, you have to let him take you. You have to—" 

All of a sudden, the scarecrow sticks his sickle through Harley's stomach. Peter and Stacy scream, then Stacy is captured by the scarecrow, too. Peter runs into Averie's arms while hears his aunt and uncle are dragged away by the scarecrow. The rest of the townspeople run away in fright. Andrew looks at Averie and Peter, he chuckles, Averie looks up at him and mouths "Fuck off." Peter lets go "Come on let's go." They hear a noise and turn around, but the scarecrow and its victims have disappeared. The three of them stay there and look around.

~ORCHARD. SUNRISE~

Andrew, Averie and Peter walk to the sacred tree with gasoline and a lighter. The tree is marked with Vince's tattoo design. Andrew goes to the tree and pours the gasoline on it, Averie picks up a long branch and lights it. "Let me." Peter says taking the branch from her. "You know, the whole town's gonna die." she says "Good." he throws the burning branch onto the tree, and they watch it go up in flames.

~BUS STOP~

Peter is getting on a bus to Manhattan. He smiles at Averie, who waves to him. He waves back and takes a seat. They watch the bus leave "Think he's gonna be alright?" "I hope so, he said he's gonna be with his Uncle Tony." "And the rest of the townspeople, they'll just get away with it?" "Well, what'll happen to the town will have to be punishment enough." they start walking to the Impala "So, can I drop you off somewhere?" she asks frowning. "No, I think you're stuck with me." they stand side by side at the car "What made you change your mind?"

He smiles "I didn't. I still wanna find Dad. And you're still a pain in the ass. But, Jess and Mom—they're both gone. Dad is God knows where. You and me. We're all that's left. So, if we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together." Averie smiles "Hold me Andy, that was beautiful!" She puts her hand on his shoulder, he hits it away. They laugh "You should be kissing my ass, you were dead meat, Av." "Yeah, right. I had a plan, I'd have gotten out." "Right.." They smile and get in the car.

~HIGHWAY~

Another shady guy is giving Olivia a ride. "So, where to, pretty lady?" "How about you pull over?" he smirks "Okay, that works." He pulls over. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a silver bowl. "What's that?" "I've got to make a call." she reaches to pull something out of the bowl "I've got a cell phone you could use." "It's not that kind of call." She pulls out a knife and slits the van driver's throat. She holds the bowl under his neck and lets his blood pour into it. "Thanks for the ride." she begins stirring the blood in the bowl with her finger. "Tire quiero patem me a di." The blood swirls around and a silver orb appears in the middle of the liquid. "It makes no sense. I could've stopped Andrew. Hell, I could've taken them both. Why let them go?" she pauses, seemingly listening to someone others cannot hear. "Yes." she pauses again. "Yes." She pauses one more time "Yes, Father."


	13. Faith

~ABANDONED HOUSE. NIGHT~

Andrew and Averie park and open the trunk. She removes two tasers, "What do you got those amped up to?" he asks "A hundred thousand volts." "Damn.." "Yeah, I want this rawhead extra frickin' crispy. And remember, you only get one shot with these things. So make it count." They move down the basement stairs with their guns, flashlights, and tasers. They hear a noise and move to the cupboard, Averie whispers "On three. One. Two. Three." she swings open the door, a young boy and girl are crouched inside, covering their ears. Andrew crouches down "Is it still here?" they nod "Ok. Grab your sister's hand, come on, we gotta get you out of here. Let's go, let's go" they start walking up the stairs. Averie walks behind, he starts to take the children upstairs, a hand grabs his legs, knocking him back down. The children scream and run to the top of the stairs.

"Andrew!" she shoots the laser but misses, "Andrew, get 'em outta here!" he throws his taser to her "Here!" he runs up the stairs and moves the children out of sight. She walks back down into the basement "Come on!" she yells trying to draw it out. A ragged, hairy creature leaps up and shoves Averie backwards. She loses her weapons and flashlight as she falls. She glances around, scrambles across puddles of water to grab the taser and releases it toward the creature as it moves toward her, electrocuting her. Electricity moves from the creature through the water lying on the ground to Averie. They both shake and twitch, the creature falls, she loses consciousness. Andrew runs down the stairs and sees Averie laying on the ground, barely breathing "Averie!" he runs over to her, and holds her head up "Hey, Av, you'll be fine.."

~HOSPITAL. FORD CITY, NEBRASKA~

Andrew stands at the desk with a receptionist "Sir, I'm so sorry to ask. There doesn't seem to be any insurance on file." "Right. Uh, ok." he removes a card from his wallet and hands it to her. "Okay, Mr. Burkovitz." he looks over and sees two cops waiting by the hospital room. He walks over "Look, we can finish this up later." the one officer says "No, no, it's okay. We were just taking a shortcut through the neighborhood. And, um, the windows were rolled down, we heard some screaming when we drove past the house, and we stopped. Ran in." "And you found the kids in the basement?" "Yeah." "Well, thank God you did." Andrew sees a doctor walking over to them.

He looks at the officers "Excuse me." "Sure. Thanks for your help." he walks over to Dr. Novak "Hey, Doc. Is she..." "She's resting." "And?" "The electrocution triggered a heart attack. Pretty massive, I'm afraid. His heart...it's damaged." "How damaged?" "We've done all we can. We can try and keep her comfortable at this point. But, I'd give her a couple weeks, at most, maybe a month." "No, no. There's, there's...gotta be something you can do, some kind of treatment." "We can't work miracles. I really am sorry." Andrew walks away tearing up.

Averie is watching TV. She is pale and has dark circles under her eyes, Andrew enters. She keeps her eyes on the TV "Have you ever actually watched daytime TV? It's terrible." she says sounding very weak, he sits down next to her bed. "I talked to your doctor." "That fabric softener teddy bear. Oh, I'm gonna hunt that little bitch down." she says glaring at the TV "Av." he says softly, she looks at him and turns the TV off. "Yeah. All right, well, looks like you're gonna leave town without me." "What are you talking about? I'm not gonna leave you here."

She puts her hand on his "Hey, you better take care of that car. Or, I swear, I'll haunt your ass." "I don't think that's funny." "Oh, come on, it's a little funny." There is a long silence, Andrew looks down, fighting tears. Averie sighs "Look, Andy, what can I say, man, it's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw. That's it, end of story." "Don't talk like that, alright? We still have options." "Watch me." he says

~HOTEL ROOM. FEW DAYS LATER~

Andrew sits on a bed surrounded by piles of papers about heart care, he dials Ethan's number, the he's sent to voicemail "This is Ethan Walker. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my daughter, Averie. 866-907-3235. She can help." he starts crying "Hey, Dad. It's Andrew. Uh...you probably won't even get this, but, uh...it's Averie. She's sick, and uh...the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um...but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right? So, don't worry, cause I'm uh...gonna do whatever it takes to get her better. Alright...just wanted you to know." he hangs up, tosses his phone on the bed and just sits there silently. There is a knock on the door and he looks up quickly, tears in his eyes. He opens it to find Averie leaning against the frame, looking terrible.

Andrew smiles, he's surprised, confused, and happy all at once "What the hell are you doing here?" "I checked myself out." Averie says smiling slightly "What, are you crazy?" she walks into the room leaning on everything in reach, barely able to stand "Well, I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot." he laughs and shuts the door. "You know, this whole I-laugh-in-the-face-of-death thing? It's crap. I can see right through it." "Yeah, whatever, dude. Have you even slept? You look worse than me." she starts walking to a chair and almost falls, he goes over and helps her "I've been scouring the Internet for the last three days. Calling every contact in Dad's journal." "Why?" "For a way to help you. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska. A specialist." Averie groans "You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?" "I'm not gonna let you die, period. We're going."

~THE CHURCH OF ROY LEGRANGE~

The Impala bumps along a rutted gravel road toward a large white circus tent set up in a field. People make their way toward the tent across the very muddy ground, many on walking frames or helped by others. Andrew gets out and runs around to help Averie. She opens her door and looks around. A sign next to the tent reads _The Church of Roy LeGrange. Faith Healer. Witness The Miracle._ Averie whines in pain as she pulls herself out of the car, Andrew tries to help her "I got ya." she angrily says "I got it." she pushes him away "Man, you are a lying bastard. Thought you said we were going to see a doctor." he looks at her worried "I believe I said a specialist. Look, Av, this guy's supposed to be the real deal." "I can't believe you brought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent."

A woman passes by them "Reverend LeGrange is a great man." she says "Yeah, that's nice." They start walking over to the tent, there's a man arguing with a cop "I have a right to protest. This man is a fraud. And he's milking all these people out of their hard-earned money." "Sir, this is a place of worship. Let's go. Move it." the cop says. Averie chuckles and looks at Andrew "I take it he's not part of the flock." "But when people see something they can't explain, there's controversy." "I mean, come on, Andrew a faith healer?" "Maybe it's time to have a little faith, Av." she shakes her head "You know what I've got faith in? Reality. Knowing what's really going on." "How can you be a skeptic? With the things we see everyday?" 

Averie smiles "Exactly. We see them, we know there real." Andrew sighs "But if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there, too?" "Because I've seen what evil does to good people." a young overhears them "Maybe God works in mysterious ways." she says, Averie checks her out "Maybe he does. I think you just turned me around on the subject." "Yeah, I'm sure." she says laughing, Averie holds her hand out "I'm Averie, this is Andrew." she shakes her hand "Layla. So, if you're not a believer, then why are you here?" "Well, apparently my brother here believes enough for the both of us." an older woman, Layla's mom, puts her arm around her neck and walker her way "Come on, Layla. It's about to start." the women smile and go into the tent. Averie looks at Layla "Well, I bet you she can work in some mysterious ways." Andrew shakes his head before they walk into the tent. The sign at the entrance reads _Welcome All Faiths. True Believers Revival._

The tent is full of people finding seats, a small stage at the front has a lectern with candles on it. Averie looks around "Yeah, peace, love, and trust all over." Andrew follows her gaze to a security camera. She starts to take a seat but he puts an arm around her and moves her toward the front "Come on." he whispers "Don't! What are you doing? Let's sit here." "We're sitting up front." "What? Why?" he continues leading her "Just come on." "Oh, come on, Andrew." she groans "You alright?" he asks worried "This is ridiculous." she slaps his hands away "I'm good, dude, get off me." he lets go and points to two empty seats behind Layla and her mother. "Perfect seats." "Yeah, _perfect."_ "You take the aisle." he slides past her. Andrew tries to help Averie sit, she raises a hand irritably. 

On stage a blind man wearing sunglasses, Roy LeGrange, is helped to the lectern by a woman. "Each morning, my wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good, does it?" he says, Averie looks at the crowd as they all murmur "Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act." As he speaks Andrew sees a table onstage, filled with religious items. He notices an old wooden cross that is topped by a smaller cross in a circle. Roy continues "But, I say to you, God is watching. God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt." Layla and her mother quietly talk. "It is the Lord who does the healing here friends. The Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts." The crowd all agree, Averie leans over and whispers to Andrew "Yeah, and into their wallets."

"You think so, young lady?" Roy asks, it falls silent "Sorry.." she says "No, no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man, we've got real sharp ears." a few people laugh "What's your name, kiddo?" she hesitates "A-Averie." Roy smiles "Averie, I want- I want you to come up here with me." the group claps, Layla smiles but her mother glares at Averie. Sue Ann moves to the center stage and motions for her to go up. "No, it's ok." Andrew looks over at her "What are you doing?" Roy smiles "You've come here to be healed, haven't cha?" She sits there "Well, yeah, but ahh...maybe you should just pick someone else. _I'm a waste_." she mutters the last part to herself.

Andrew looks at her shocked, a few people start trying to encourage her, "Oh, no. I didn't pick you, Averie, the Lord did." she listens as someone says "That's right! You can do it! Come on!" Andrew holds her hand "Get up there." She reluctantly rises and moves toward the stage. Sue An moves to assist and stands her next to Roy "You ready?" "Look, no disrespect, but ahh, I'm not exactly a believer." "You will be, hon. You will be." he looks out at the group "Pray with me friends." The crowd lifts their arms up and joins hands with each other. Roy lifts his hands to the air, then places one first on Averie's shoulder, then on the side of her head.

Averie's eyes glaze over, her knees weaken and she sinks to her knees. Roy's hand sill on her head "Alright, now." he whispers. She wobbles, as her eyes fall back in her head and she slips to the stage floor. "Averie!" Andrew yells getting out of his chair and running to her, the crowd claps, he grabs her hoodie strings. She wakes up "Say something." Averie blinks groggily and looks up. Roy is standing above her, hands out from his sides, palms up, looking happy. Beside and slightly behind him is a tall man in a black suit with white hair, very white skin and extremely wrinkled skin stands there. He stares at her then turns away and vanishes. She watches him, shocked.

~HOSPITAL CHECK UP ROOM~

Averie sits on the bed, Andrew sits next to her bed on a chair "So, you really feel okay?" she frowns "I feel fine, Andrew." Dr. Novak walks in reading paperwork "Well, according to all your tests there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was. Not that a woman your age should be having heart trouble, but, still it's strange it does happen." "What do you mean, strange?" she asks "Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you, twenty-seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack." she nods "Thanks, Jimmy." he smiles "No problem." he leaves the room.

"That's odd." Averie says "Maybe it's a coincidence. People's hearts give out all the time." Andrew says "No, they don't." "Look, Av, do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't we just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?" "Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why." he looks at her "What _feeling_?" "When I was healed, I just...I felt wrong. I felt cold. And for a second...I saw someone. This, uh, this old man. And I'm telling you, Andrew, it was a spirit." "But if there was something there, I think I would've seen it, too. I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot of things lately."she scoffs "Well, excuse me, psychic wonder. But you're just gonna need a little faith on this one. I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this." he sighs "Yeah, alright. So what'd you want to do?" "I want you to go check out the heart attack guy. I'm gonna visit the reverend."

~ROY LEGRANGE'S HOUSE~

Roy and Averie sit on opposite couches, Sue Ann fills a glass and hands it to her. "I feel great. Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened." Averie says "A miracle is what happened. Well, miracles come so often around Roy." she turns to him. "When did they start? The miracles." "Woke up one morning, stone blind. Doctors figured out I had cancer. Told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, 'You just keep right on praying.' I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn't wake up, but I did. And the cancer was gone." he takes his sunglasses off "If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I'd ever had it." Averie smiles "And suddenly you could heal people?" "I discovered it afterward, yes. God's blessed me in many ways." Sue Ann looks at them "And his flock just swelled overnight. And this is just the beginning."

"Can I ask you one last question?" Roy nods "Of course you can." "Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?" "Well, like I said before, the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest." she frowns "What did you see in my heart?" "A young woman with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn't finished." Averie sits there shocked.

~SWIMMING LOCKER ROOM~

Andrew is talking to an employee, "I'm telling you, he seemed healthy. Swam every day, didn't smoke. So, a heart attack just kind of seemed, well, bizarre." she says "And you said he was running, right before he collapsed?" "Yeah, yeah, he was freaking out. He said that something was, uh, was after him." he tilts his head "Did he say what?" "Well, thin air is what. I mean, it wasn't anything." "Alright, thanks." 

As Andrew leaves he notices the clock on the wall isn't working. "Hey, buddy? Your, uh, your clock's busted." "Oh, yeah, we, uh, can't get it workin'. Just froze at 4:17." "Is that the same time Marshall died?" "How'd you know?" Andrew thinks for a second ' _That's the same time Averie was healed_ ' 

~ROY LEGRANGE'S PORCH~

Averie walks down the stairs, Layla and her mother, Mrs. Rourke, are waiting to go in. "Averie, hey." Layla says, "Hey" "How you feeling?" she sighs "I feel good. Cured, I guess. What are you doing here?" "You know, my mom, she wanted to talk to the reverend." Sue Ann walks out onto the porch and sees Layla "Layla?" "Yes, I'm here again." Averie stands there confused "Well, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting. He won't be seeing anyone else right now." Mrs. Rourke frowns "Sue Ann, please, this is our sixth time, he has to see us." "Roy is well aware of Layla's situation. And he very much wants to help just as soon as the Lord allows. Have faith, Mrs. Rourke." Sue Ann goes inside. Mrs. Rourke stares then turns, looking at Averie "Why are you still even here? You got what you wanted." "Mom, stop." "No, Layla, this is too much. We've been to every single service. If Roy would stop choosing these strangers over you. Strangers who don't even believe. I just can't pray any harder."

Averie looks at Layla "What's wrong?" "I have this thing-" "It's a brain tumor. It's inoperable. In six months, the doctors say...." Layla puts a hand on her mom's shoulder to stop her. "Oh, I'm sorry.." "It's okay.." Mrs. Rourke shakes her head "No it isn't." she turns to Averie "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?" she walks away. Layla take a deep shaky breath and follows her down the stairs. Averie watches them go then turns to look back at the house. "Trust me, I didn't want to be healed." 

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie walks in throwing the keys on the bed and takes off her jacket. Andrew is at the laptop, researching, "What'd you find out?" she asks. He softly says "I'm sorry." she tosses her jacket on the chair and sits down "Sorry about what?" "Marshall Hall died at 4:17." she sits there stunned "The exact time I was healed." "Yeah. So, I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed, six people over the past year, and I cross-checked them with the local obits. Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing at the time."

"Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?" Averie asks "Somehow. LeGrange...he's trading a life for another." Andrew says sighing "Wait, wait, wait. So, Marshall Hall died to save me?" "Av, the guy probably would've died anyway. And someone else would've been healed." she frowns "You never should've brought me here." "I was just trying to save your life." "But, Andrew, some guy is dead now because of me." "I didn't know..The thing I don't understand is how is Roy doing it? How's he trading a life for a life?" "Oh, he's not doing it. Something else is doing it for him." "What do you mean?" "The 'old man' I saw on stage. I didn't wanna believe it, but deep down I knew." He starts getting worried "You knew what? What are you talking about?" "There's only one thing that can give and take life like that. We're dealing with a reaper."

~FOREST/PARK~

A woman is jogging along a path, headphones on. The lead in to 'Don't fear the Reaper' by Blue Oyster Cult begins to play quietly and gets gradually louder. She gets the feeling somebody's watching her, she stops jogging, takes out an earphone and looks into the forest. "Hello?" she kneels, breathing hard. She turns around, the reaper is in front of her, startled she starts backing away. The music crescendos, the lyrics begin.

She flees down the path, looking back, terrified and gasping, the reaper follows her calmly. The woman, exhausted now, looks behind her again, seeing the reaper. When she turns forward she crashes into him and falls to her knees. The reaper lays his hand on the side of her face. Her eyes glaze, she gasps for breath, her face pale. She falls to the ground, dead.

~ROY'S CHURCH SERVICE (AT THE SAME TIME)~

Roy has his hand on the forehead of an old man in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube. He stands up on stage "Pray with me friends." the crowd lifts their hands in the air. Roy lifts his hands to heaven, preparing to lay them on the old man. He places his hand on the man's head, the same reaper, invisible to the crowd, places his hand beside Roy's. The man rises from his wheelchair and falls to his knees. The color returns to his face and he slowly removes his oxygen tube. The crowd gasps and cheers. Roy smiles, and the crowd claps and cheers.

~MOTEL~

Andrew looks shocked "You really think it's _the_ Grim Reaper? Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?" Averie sighs "No no no, not _the_ reaper, A reaper. There's reaper law in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names, it's possible that there's more than one of them." "But you said you saw a dude in a suit." "What, you think he shoulda been working the whole black robe thing?....You said it yourself that the clock stopped right? Reapers stop time. And you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why I could see it and you couldn't." he shrugs "Maybe" "There's nothing else it could be. The question is how is Roy controlling the damn thing?"

Andrew bites his tongue "That cross." "What?" "There was this cross, I noticed it in the church and I knew I had seen it before." Averie watches as he through some papers. He holds a card up to her "Here." she leans in and takes the card. "A tarot?" "It makes sense. A tarot dates back to the early christian era right, when some priests were still using magic? And a few of them veered into the dark stuff? Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it?" "So Roy's using black magic to bind the reaper?" "If he is he's riding the whirlwind. It's like putting a dog leash on a great white."

Averie walks over to the sink, she leans against it "Ok then we stop Roy." "How?" "You know how." "Wait, what the hell are you talking about Av, we can't kill Roy." she sighs "Andrew, the guys playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies. That's a monster in my book." "No. We're not going to kill a human being. We do that we're no better than he is." "Ok, we can't kill Roy, we can't kill death. Any bright ideas college boy?" "Ok. uh...If Roy's using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we gotta...figure out what it is. And how to break it."

~OUTSIDE CHURCH TENT~

The Impala bounces down the badly gravelled and potholed road again, passing a sign that says _Service Today_. "If Roy's using a spell, there might be a spell book." Andrew says "See if you can find it." she looks at her watch "Hurry up too, the service starts in fifteen minutes. I'll try to stall Roy." She gets out of the Impala, Wright hands her a pamphlet "Roy LeGrange is a fraud. He's no healer." he says "Amen brother. Keep up the good work." she says taking it "Thank you."

~ROY'S HOUSE~

Roy comes down the stairs, assisted by Sue Ann on one arm, a dark haired man the other. Andrew waits, watching them leave from the corner of the porch. He climbs in a window and starts searching the house. He looks on the bookshelves and pulls out the only book that doesn't have dust on the shelf in front of it. _Encyclopedia of British History_. He flips through it, finding nothing, then realizes there is another, smaller book, hidden on the bookshelf behind the larger one. Inside is a picture of a skeleton reaper, and on another page the wooden cross he saw earlier in the tent. He also finds newspaper articles about the people who died. The one that died for Averie was an openly gay teacher, the woman jogging an abortion rights advocate. He finds a third clipping about Wright, the man handing out pamphlets in front of the tent.

~CHURCH SERVICE~

Averie is walking slowly up the side aisle. Her phone rings, she answers "Whatcha got?" "Roy's choosing victims he sees as immoral. And I think I know who's next on his list. Remember that protestor?" "What, the guy in the parking lot?" "Yeah. Yeah, I'll find him. But you can't let Roy heal anyone, alright?" "Yeah." she hangs up and continues walking.

She sits and watches, Roy smiles "Layla. Layla Rourke. Come up here child." The crowd bursts into pleased applause. Layla, stunned, looks around then rises to hug Mrs. Rourke. "Mum. Thank you." "You're welcome sweetie." Averie watches them hug "Oh man, this'll be hard.." As Layla walks by she stops her, "Layla, listen to me. You can't go up there." "Why not? We've waited for months!" "You can't let Roy heal you." "I don't understand, Roy healed you didn't he? Why can't you let him try?" she frowns "Cause if you do something bad is going to happen. I can't explain. I just need you to believe me" They stare at each other, Sue Ann stands on the stage waiting "Layla?" Layla stares at the hand Sue Ann is offering, then turns back and stares at her mother, who is standing ringing her hands. Her mother nods at her. 

Layla looks at Averie and shakes her head "I'm sorry." "Layla. Layla!" she says as she leaves her. Sue Ann puts her arm around Layla "Dear child! You deserve this." Roy takes her hand "I knew the Lord was planning. I knew it was just a matter of time." Averie, frustrated, moves back to stand near Mrs. Rourke, who is crying and covering her face with her hands.

~OUTSIDE THE TENT~

Andrew walks through the car park, Wright comes out from behind a car "Help me!" he yells, Andrew runs over to him. "Help! Help me please!" "Where is he?" he grabs Andrew's shoulder and points "There, right there!" there's nobody there. He leads Wright away "Come on." 

~CHURCH SERVICE~

Roy is about to lay his hands on Layla, who looks enraptured. Averie from the back yells "FIRE! Hurry, tent's on fire!" Layla opens her eyes and looks toward the crowd. Everyone starts to rise and evacuate. Mrs. Rourke walks up to the stage "NO! No, please. Please don't stop. Reverend, please, please! Please don't stop, please! She needs this!" Averie watches frowning. "Friends, if you'd all just leave the tent in an orderly fashion...and we'll, uh, and we'll figure out what's going on out there and we'll come back." she pulls out her phone and calls Andrew "I did it, I stopped Roy."

~OUTSIDE THE TENT~

Andrew (holding his phone) and Wright look around "Mr. Wright, I think it's okay now." Wright looks around at him, nodding, then turns back. The reaper is in front of him "No! He's still here!" he sighs "Averie, it didn't work. The reaper's still coming!" "It had to've!" she says "I'm telling you, I'm telling you it didn't work. Roy must not be the one controlling this thing." "Then who the hell is!?"

~CHURCH SERVICE~

Averie looks around and spies Sue Ann beside the stage, facing into the corner and reciting. "Sue Ann.." she mutters. She runs to her and spins her around. Sue Ann gasps and stops reciting, reaching down to hold a cross on a chain around her neck. It is the same as the wooden cross Andrew saw earlier, she stuffs the necklace into her blouse "Help me! Help!" Averie backs away, shaking her head and staring at Sue Ann like she shouldn't have expected anything better. Two cops grab her roughly and pull her away.

~OUTSIDE TENT~

The reaper is holding his hand to Wright's face. Suddenly he stops, looking confused, and rises. He stares at Wright, who is lying on the ground gasping for breath, then turns away and vanishes. Andrew goes over to help him up "I got you. I got you." "Thank God.."

Two cops manhandle Averie through the entry. She shakes them off as soon as they are outside. Sue Ann follows close behind "I just don't understand. After everything we've done for you. After Roy healed you. I'm just very very disappointed Averie." she stares at her, saying nothing. "You can let her go. I'm not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with her as he sees fit." Sue Ann leaves, the cops turn to Averie, the one cop gets in her face "We catch you round here again, we'll put the fear of God in you, understand?" "Yes sir, fear of god. Got it." he shoves her out of the way. Layla stands there behind her "Why would you do that? And it could have been my only chance." "He's not a healer." "He healed you!" she sighs "I know it doesn't seem fair, and I wish I could explain. But Roy is not the answer, I'm sorry."

Layla sadly shakes her head "Goodbye." she walks away. Averie raises her glance to the sky, then turns to watch her. She turns back "I wish you luck. I really do." "Same to you.." she walks away again "You deserve it a lot more than me." Layla walks away past where her mother is talking to Roy and Sue Ann. "Private session tonight, no interruptions. I give you my word, I'll heal your daughter." he says "Thank you reverend. God bless you."

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew sits on the bed "So Roy really believes." "I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing." Averie says "Well, I found this. (He hands the little book to her) Hidden in their library. It's ancient. Written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper." "Must be a hell of a spell." "Yeah. You gotta build a black alter with seriously dark stuff. Bones, human blood. To cross a line like that, a preacher's wife. Black magic. Murder. Evil" "Desperate. Her husband was dying, she didn't have anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy." "Cheating death, literally." he says shaking his head.

"Yeah but Roy's alive, so why is she still using the spell?" Averie asks "Right. To force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral." "May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work." she says laughing "We gotta break that binding spell." Averie focuses on the cross in the picture "You know Sue Ann had a coptic cross like this. When she dropped it the reaper backed off." "So you think we gotta find the cross or destroy the altar?" "Maybe both. Whatever we do we better do it soon, or he's healing Layla tonight."

~CHURCH TENT. NIGHT~

They park the Impala, Andrew looks over at a car "That's Layla's car. She's already here." Averie nods sadly "Yeah." he sighs "Av-" "You know if Roy woulda picked Layla instead of me she'd be here right now. And if she's not healed tonight she's gonna die in a couple months." "What's happening to her is horrible. But what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself Av, you can't play God." she sits without speaking, then gets out of the car. He follows. They approach the tent and peek inside. Roy is speaking to a small group of the faithful, including Layla and her mother. "Gather round, please everyone, gather round. Come in closer, come on up." Roy says, Andrew looks around "Where's Sue Ann?" "Probably the house." 

They start walking over to the house, "Go find Sue Ann, I'll catch up." Averie says "What are you gonna...?" she pushes him away and spys the cops from earlier. "Hey!" she yells, they look over "You gonna put that fear of God in me? Bitches!" The cops drop their coffee and run at Averie, who takes off. As soon as they're gone Andrew runs up the stairs and checks around the house. It is in darkness. He turns back, confused, then spots light emerging from the cracks of the outside basement entrance. He moves toward the basement entrance, opens the doors and slips inside.

Averie silently creeps up beside a camper van. The cops are on the other side with flashlights "You see 'er?" "Nah." she slowly rises next to the passenger window of the camper van, looking behind her. A large dog jumps at the window, barking wildy and she leaps back. On the other side of the van the cops shine their lights underneath, then in at the dog who is still barking. "Psycho mutt" They move on as Averie sticks her head over. She looks around tensely, then sags against the roof.

Andrew moves quietly through the basement to a candlelit altar littered with parts of dead animals, blood, horns, etc. There is a photo in the middle of Averie, taken from the security camera the first time they were in the tent, before she was healed. Her face has been crossed out with what looks like blood "I gave your sister life and I can take it away." Sue Ann says suddenly appearing behind him. He tips over the table the alteris on, then runs at her but she is already up the stairs. She closes the hatches and secures it with a beam. He stretches to push against them and keeps trying.

"Andrew, can't you see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked. And your brother is wicked and he deserves to die just as Layla deserves to live. It is God's will." he starts looking around the room "You should say Goodbye to your sister." he pulls a block off wood out from the wall and smashes out a small boarded up window.

Averie is heading toward the tent when some lights go out. She stops, looking behind her, and watches the line of lights lighting the path go out one by one. She turns back to see the reaper walking toward her.

Roy raises his hands "All right now. All right." he places a hand on Layla's head, just outside the door Sue Ann is reciting Latin and holding the cross in her hands. The reaper places his hand on the side of Averie's head, she convulses once. Inside the church Layla is sinking to her knees, outside Averie is doing the same. Her eyes glaze over, Sue Ann is reciting, holding up the cross. Andrew appears, grabs it and throws it aside, breaking a glass bottle of blood.

The reaper stops what he is doing and looks up. Averie falls to the ground gasping. Roy raises his hand from Layla's head, confused "I don't understand..." "I don't....feel any different...?" Outside Sue Ann falls to her knees next to the blood "My God! What have you done!?" "He's not your God." Layla looks at Roy "Reverend?" "Sue Ann?" he asks. 

Outside, Sue Ann looks up and sees the reaper. He smiles at her. Terrified, she rises and turns to run. The reaper is there. He places his hand on her head, her eyes glaze over and she falls to her knees. After a moment, still smiling, he allows her to slip to the ground where she convulses once, twice, and dies. The reaper watches, looking satisfied. Leaving her lying there, Andrew turns and goes to look for Averie.

Averie makes it back to the Impala just as he approaches. "You okay?" she nods "Hell of a week." "Yeah....All right, come on. We should get going." they get into the car.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie sits on the bed looking at the wall, Andrew watches her "What is it?" "Nothing." he waits a few seconds "What is it?" he says more gentle "We did the right thing here didn't we?" "Of course we did." she hangs her head "It doesn't feel like it." there's a knock at the door "I got it." Andrew says. He opens the door as she turns to look. It's Layla. "Hey Layla. Come on in." "Hi Andrew."

She walks in, Averie quickly stands up "How did you know we were here?" "Andrew...called. He said you...wanted to say goodbye?" Averie glances at Andrew, who is at the door, looking sheepish "I'm gonna grab a soda." he leaves closing the door behind him. "So, uh. Where are you going?" Layla asks "Don't know yet. Our work kinda takes us all over." they stare at each other for a moment "You know...I went back to see Roy." "What happened?" she sits on the one bed "Nothing. He laid his hands on my forehead but nothing happened." Averie sits down next to her "I'm sorry. I'm sorry it didn't work." "And Sue Ann. She's dead you know? Stroke."

"Yeah I heard. You know Roy's a good man. He doesn't deserve what's happened." Averie says, she continues "Must be rough. To believe in something so much, and have it disappoint you." Layla smiles "You wanna hear something weird?" she tilts her head "I'm Ok. Really. I guess if you're gonna have faith...you can't just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don't." "So what now?" Layla smiles softly "God works in mysterious ways." she lays her hand softly on the side of Averie face, staring at her. She kisses her "Goodbye Averie.." She rises and moves toward the door. Averie closes her eyes for a second, remaining still. She stands up "Well.." she clears her throat and Layla turns to her "I'm not much of the praying type...but...I'm gonna pray for you." "Well...There's a miracle right there." Layla smiles, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She turns and leaves the room. Averie stands staring at the door.


	14. Route 666

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There is mention of race in this chapter

~ROAD. CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI. NIGHT~

A car moves down the road, radio talking about the unseasonably cold weather. A man sits behind the wheel, the radio crackles and dies. A large black truck approaches behind his car, moving quickly, the man looks in his rearview mirror. "What the fuck?" The vehicles race along the road until the truck backends the sedan once, and then again.

The radio comes back to life, talking about politics. The truck is suddenly gone. The man continues driving, watching his rearview mirror. Suddenly bright headlights shine through his windscreen. The truck is waiting. The man skids to a halt, backs up and turns to go the other way. The truck is reving.

He is backended again and fights to control the car as it swerves on the icy road. He is backended one last time and loses control, leaving the road and crashing through a cemetery. The car flips, bounces, and skids to a halt. The truck cruises to a stop, revs a few times, then backs up and disappears into thin air.

~GAS STATION. UTICA, NEW YORK. MORNING~

Andrew is looking at a map laid out on top of the car, Averie has her phone to her ear. "Ok. I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here. We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought." he says, she lowers the phone "Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania." "We- what?" "I just got a call from an, uh, old friend. Her father was killed last night, think it might be our kind of thing." "What?" "Yeah. Believe me, she never woulda called, never, if she didn't need us." she gets in the Impala and waits "Come on, are you coming or not?"

The Impala cruises down the road, fields on one side, a lake on the other. "By _old friend_ you mean...?" "A friend that's not new." Averie says "Oh yeah, thanks. So her name's Cassie huh? You never mentioned her.." "Didn't I?" there's a long pause, he looks at her expectantly. "Yeah, we went out." "You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night." he asks laughing. She shakes her head "Am I speaking a language you're not getting here? Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a coupla weeks."

"And..?" she shrugs slightly "Look, it's terrible about her dad, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do. Which by the way, how does she know what we do?" Andrew asks, Averie looks shifty "You told her. You told her, the secret! Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half I do nothing but lie to Hannah, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a coupla times and you tell her everything?" She stays silent, staring straight ahead. "Averie!" "Yeah. Looks like." She continues staring ahead and put her foot down. Andrew gives her a bitchface, shaking his head.

~NEWSPAPER OFFICE. CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI.~

A man, Jimmy, is talking to the Mayor "It's a newspaper we put out, not a bulletin for the Mayor's office." "Get off your soapbox Jimmy, I'm urging a little discretion is all." a young woman, Cassie, buts in "No, I think you're telling us what you want us to print and what you want us to sit on." "I know you're upset Cassie, I liked your dad a lot. But I think your grief is clouding your judgment." Jimmy glares at him "Two black people were killed on the same stretch of road in the same way in two week." Andrew and Averie walk into the office.

The mayor shakes his head "Jimmy, you're too close to this. Those guys were friends of yours. Again, Cassie, I'm very sorry for your loss." he leaves, Jimmy walks away. Cassie sighs and turns around, looking straight at Averie "Averie!" Looking slightly apprehensive, she nods at her and grins. "Hey Cassie." They stare at each other for a long moment, not speaking. Andrew watches, smiling to himself. Averie clears her throat "This my brother Andrew." Cassie smiles "Hi Andrew." "Hey." Averie frowns "Sorry bout your dad." she nods "Me too." 

~Cassie's house~

Cassie carries a tray of tea and cups to the lounge, "My mothers in pretty bad shape. I've been staying with her. I wish she wouldn't go off by herself. She's been so nervous and frightened. She was worried about Dad." Averie looks at her "Why?" "He was scared. He was seeing things." "Like what?" "He swore he saw an awful-looking black truck following him." Andrew looks over at Averie, then Cassie "A truck. Who was the driver?" Cassie hands them cups of tea "He didn't talk about a driver. Just the truck. He said it would appear and disappear. And, in the accident, Dad's car was dented, like it had been slammed into by something big." 

Averie looks at her cup of tea like it's an alien, and quickly deposits it on a side table. Cassie starts talking "He sold cars. Always drove a new one. There wasn't a scratch on that thing. It had rained hard that night. There was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of muddy tracks leading from dad's car...leading right to the edge, where he went over." she bows her head, getting her emotions under control. "One set of tracks. _His._ " Averie frowns "The first was a friend of your fathers?" "Best friend. Clayton Soames.They owned the car dealership together. Same thing. Dent. No Tracks. And the cops said exactly what they said about dad. He 'lost control of his car.'" "Can you think of any reason why your father and his partner might be targets?" "No."

Andrew shifts slightly "And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?" Cassie sighs "When you say it aloud like that...listen, I'm a little sceptical about this...ghost stuff...or whatever it is you guys are into." "Skeptical. If I remember, I think you said I was nuts." Averie says "That was then." They stare at each other again "I just know that I can't explain what happened up there. So I called you." a door opens, a old woman walks through. Andrew and Averie rise to their feet, Cassie goes to take her mom's arm. "Mom. Where have you been I was so..." "I had no idea you'd invited friends over." Mrs. Robinson says looking over at them. "Mom, this is Averie, a...friend of mine from.... college. And her brother Andrew." "Well I won't interrupt you." Andrew steps forward "Mrs Robinson. We're sorry for your loss. We'd like to talk to you for a minute if you don't mind?" she looks at him slightly affronted "I'm really not up for that right now." She leaves the room, those remaining look at each other.

~OPEN FIELD. NIGHT~

An open field there is a crashed car, wheels spinning. Jimmy is slumped over the wheel, not moving. On the road the truck revs its engine then backs up, disappearing.

The same field in the morning, The Mayor and Cassie walk among the emergency vehicles "Jimmy meant something to this town. He was one of our best. We won't be the same without him." she sighs "Our best seem to be dropping like flies. Clayton, my father, Jimmy." "What is it exactly you want me to do?" "How bout closing this section of road for starters?" he scoffs "Close the main road. The only road in and out of town? Accidents do happen Cassie, and that's what they are. Accidents." Averie and Andrew approach and stand behind her. "Did the cops check for additional dinting on Jimmy's car, see if it was pushed?" Averie asks "Who's this?" "Averie and Andrew Walker. Family friends. This is Mayor Harold Todd."

Harold shakes his head "There's one set of tire tracks. One. . doesn't point to foul play." Cassie glares at him "Mayor, the police and town officials take their cues from you. If you're indifferent about..." "Indifferent!" "Would you close the road if the victims were _white_?" "You suggesting I'm racist Cassie? I'm the _last_ person you should talk to like that." "And why is that?" "Why don't you ask your mother." He walks away, Cassie shakes her head frowning, Averie glares at him "Can I shoot him?" she whispers to Andrew "Sadly, no."

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew stands in a suit, he picks up the jacket "I'll say this for her, she's fearless." Averie stands in front of the mirror fixing her tie "Mm-hmm." he grins "Bet she kicked your ass a coupla times." she turns around, glares at him, then turns back to the mirror. "What's interesting is you guys never really look at each other at the same time. You look at her when she's not looking, she checks you out when you look away. It's just a...just an interesting observation in a....you know...observationally interesting way." "You think we might have more _pressing_ issues here?" "Hey, if I'm hitting a nerve." she turns away, she could feel herself blushing "Let's go." Andrew snickers and follows Averie.

~THE DOCKS~

Averie and Andrew walking down a pier. A few people are fishing, they approach two older men having lunch. "Excuse me. Are you Ron Stubbins?" Andrew asks, Ron nods "You were friends with Jimmy Anderson?" "Who are you?" Averie smiles "We're Mr Anderson's insurance company. We're just here to dot 'I's' and cross 'T's'." "We were just wondering, had the deceased mentioned any unusual recent experiences?" Ron looks at them confused "What do you mean, unusual?" "Well visions, hallucinations. It's part of a medical examination kind of thing. All very standard." "What company did you say you were with?" Andrew and Averie look at each other "All National Mutual. Tell me, did he ever mention seeing a truck? A big black truck?" "What the hell you talking about? You even speaking English?"

The man next to Ron looks at Andrew "Son this truck, a big scary monster looking thing?" "Yeah actually, I think so." he says "Hmm." "What?" "I have heard of a truck like that." Averie looks at him "Where?" "Not where. When. Back in the '60s there was a string of deaths. Black men. Story goes, they disappeared in a big, nasty, black truck." "They ever catch the guy who did it?" "Never found him. Hell, not sure they even really looked. See there was a time, this town wasn't too _friendly_ to all its citizens." "Thank you." Averie says, her and Andrew start walking over to the Impala.

"Truck." Averie says "Keeps coming up doesn't it?" Andrew says trying to think of how a ghost could possess a truck "You know, I was thinking. You heard of the flying dutchman?" "Yeah, a ghost ship, infused with the Captain's evil spirit. It was basically part of him." "So what if we're dealing with the same thing? You know, a phantom truck, an extension of some bastard's ghost, re-enacting past crimes." "The victims have all been black men." "I think it's more than that. They all seem connected to Cassie and her family." "All right. Well, you work that angle, go talk to her." "Yeah, I will." "Oh, and you might also wanna mention that other thing." Andrew says "What other thing?" Averie asks confused.

"The serious, unfinished business?" she stays silent, he huffs a laugh "Av, what is going on between you two?" "All right, so maybe we were a little bit more involved than I said." "Oh, Okay?" "Okay, a lot more. Maybe. And I told her our secret, about what we do. And I shouldn't have." he pats her shoulder "Look, everybody's gotta open up to someone sometime." "Yeah I don't. It was stupid to get that close. I mean, look how it ended." Andrew smiles, Averie looks at him "Would you stop!" he continues staring "Blink or something!" "You loved her." "Oh God." she turns to the Impala "You were in love with her, but you dumped her." Averie is silent. She stares at the ground, glances at Andrew, then looks back to the ground. "Oh wow. She dumped you." "Get in the car." she gets in "Get in the damn car!"

~CASSIE'S HOUSE~

Cassie sits at the desk in the lounge, there is a knock at the door. She walks over and opens the door "Averie." she says smiling "Hey." "Hey. Come on in." Averie walks in. "So...you busy, or..." "The paper's doing a tribute to Jimmy. I was just going through his stuff...his awards. Trying to find the words." "That's gotta be tough." she nods "For years this family owned the paper. The Dorians? They had a whites only policy. After they sold it Jimmy became the first black reporter. He didn't stop til he became editor. He taught me everything.. Where's your brother?" Averie shrugs "Not here." "All right. So, uh, what brings you here?" "Trying to find the connection between the three victims. By the way, did you talk to your mum about, what Harold said about not being a racist?"

Cassie nods "I did. She didn't want to talk about it." "Right." there's a short silence. "So just then, why did you ask where my brother was?" "Nothing. Not important." "Could it be because, without him here it's just you and me? Not you, me and Andrew which would be easier?" she looks at her frowning "It's not easier....Look, I..." Averie turns away "No. Forget it. It's fine. We'll keep it strictly business." Cassie stares at her "I forgot you do that." "Do what?" "Oh. Whenever we get, what's the word.... _close_? Anywhere in the neighbourhood of emotional vulnerability, you back off. Or make some joke. Or find any way to shut the door on me."

Averie, offended, laughs and turns so she's facing Cassie "Oh that's hilarious. See, I'm not the one who took that big final door and slammed it behind me." "Okay, wait a minute..." "And I'm not the one who took the key and buried it." "We done with this metaphor?" "All I'm saying is I was totally up front with you back then, and you nailed me for it." Cassie shakes her head "The girl I'm with, the girl I'm hoping might be in my future, tells me she professionally pops ghosts?" "That's not the words I used!" "And that she has to leave, to go work with her father." 

Averie looks at her "I did! I had to help my father!" Cassie frowns "All I could think was, If you want out fine, but don't tell me this insane story." "It was the truth Cassie, and I notice it didn't sound insane the minute you thought I could help you." "Well back then I thought you just wanted to dump me." "Whoa! Now let's not forget who dumped who ok?" "I thought it was what you wanted." Averie looks at her, hurt "Well it wasn't." "I didn't mean to hurt you." "Well you did." "I'm sorry!" "Me too.." Cassie leans in and kisses Averie, they start making out. She takes her into her room and pushes Averie onto the bed.

~A BUILDING SITE. NIGHT.~

The Mayor, Harold, stands looking at building plans. He folds them up and makes his way back to his car. Before he can get in the black truck pulls up behind him, revving its engine. He starts to run down the road. The truck hits him, he falls down an embankment and rolls to a stop, obviously dead.

~CASSIE'S ROOM. MORNING~

Averie lies on her back, her arm around Cassie tucked against her side. "We should fight more often." Cassie says smiling, Averie is staring at the roof, absentmindedly running her fingers up and down her arm "Absolutely." "Actually we were always pretty good at fighting. It's all the other stuff...not so much." "Hey I tried. I told you who I really was. That was a big first for me." Averie says looking down at her "Why'd you tell me?" "I don't know. I guess I couldn't lie to you." "Averie. You told me that story...it scared the hell outta me. I thought you were nuts. Dangerous even. Actually, maybe I was looking for a reason to walk away." 

"In my work....uh...I see some horrible things. Things that can't be explained. I deal with them. But working things out with you?" "I'm a scary one all right.....well, usually things get worked out. When you really want them to." they stare at each other "You know, I'm still really involved. With my dad's work." Cassie leans on one elbow to look at Averie "No more excuses ok? From you or me." "Okay." They start making out, Averie's phone starts ringing, she sighs and answers it "Yeah?" she listens to whoever is on the other side "You're kiddin!"

~FIELD NEAR THE BUILDING SITE.~

It is snowing, Averie approaches Andrew, who is talking to a cop. He puts away some ID "She's with me." the cop leaves. He turns to her with a half smile "Where were you last night? You didn't make it back to the hotel." "Well..." "I'm guessing you guys worked things out?" "We'll be working things out when we're ninety. So what happened?" he turns back to the body "Every bone crushed. Internal organs turned to pudding. The cops are all stumped, it's like something ran him over." "Something like a truck?" "Yep." "Tracks?" "Nope." Averie looks around "What was the Mayor doing here anyway?" Andrew sighs "He owned the property. Bought it a few weeks ago." "But he's white, he doesn't fit the pattern." "Killing didn't happen up on the road. That doesn't fit either."

~ NEWSPAPER OFFICE.~

Cassie makes two mugs of tea and takes them over to where Averie sits at a computer. "Here." she hands Averie a cup "Thanks. So I'm trying to find some link between those killings back in the '60s and what's going on now. There wasn't a lot about it in the paper." "Not surprising. Probably minimal police work too. Back then equal justice under the law wasn't too literal around here." Averie's phone rings, she answers "Yeah?" "Okay, the courthouse records show that Mr and Mrs Todd bought an abandoned property. The previous owner was the Dorian family for, like, 150 years." Andrew says "Dorian?" "Yeah." She looks at Cassie "Didn't you say the Dorian family used to own this paper?" she nods "Along with everything else around here. Real pillars of the town." "Right, right." she clicks a few links on the computer.

"That's interesting." Averie says into the phone "What?" Andrew asks "This Cyrus Dorian. He vanished in April of '63.The case was investigated but never solved. It was right around the time the string of murders was going on back then." "Well I pulled a bunch of papers up on the Dorian place, it musta been in bad shape when the Mayor bought." "Why's that?" "The first thing he did was bulldoze the place." Averie puts the phone down a bit "Mayor Todd knocked down the Dorian place?" "It was a big deal. One of the oldest houses left. He made the front page." Cassie says. "You got a date?" Averie asks Andrew "Ahhh. The 3rd of last month." she hangs up and clicks a link "Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the 3rd. The first killing was the very next day."

~CASSIE'S HOUSE. NIGHT~

Cassie wanders around with a glass of something. As she puts it down on the desk the lights flicker and she hears a revving engine outside. Headlights shine through the slats of the blinds and she hurriedly closes them. The truck starts making passes at the house and Cassie. terrified, runs from room to room closing the blinds. She races for her phone and dials a number "Averie! I need help!"

A little while later, Andrew hands her a cup of tea. Averie sits beside her protectively."Maybe you could throw a couple of shots in that." Cassie says talking about the truck "You didn't see who was driving the truck?" Andrew asks "It seemed to be no one. Everything was moving so fast. And then it was just gone. Why didn't it kill us?" Averie puts her arm around Cassie "Whoever was controlling the truck wants you afraid first." Andrew turns to Mrs. Robinson "Mrs Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died." she nods, "Mom?" Cassie asks "Oh. Martin was under a lot of stress. You can't be sure about what he was seeing."

"Well after tonight I think we can be reasonably sure he was seeing a truck. What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked. Ok? Your daughter could die. So if you know something now would be a really good time to tell us about it." Averie says, Cassie looks at her "Averie..." "Yes. Yes, he said he saw a truck." "Did he know who it belonged to?" "He thought he did." "Who was that." "Cyrus. A man named Cyrus."

Andrew and Averie look at each other, Andrew reaches for his bag and shows Mrs. Robinson the newspaper article about Cyrus Dorian's death. "Is this Cyrus?" he asks "Cyrus Dorian died more than 40 years ago." "How do you know he died, Mrs Robinson? The paper's said he went missing. How do you know he died?" he asks softly "We were all very young. I dated Cyrus a while, I was also seeing Martin...in secret of course. Interracial couples didn't go over too well back then. When I broke it off with Cyrus and when he found out about Martin, I don't know, he, changed. His hatred. His hatred was frightening." "The murders.."

Mrs. Robinson sounding sad, continues "There were rumours. People of colour disappearing into some kind of a truck. Nothing was ever done. Martin and a... Martin and I, we were gonna be, uh, married in that little church near here, but last minute we decided to elope as we didn't want the attention." "And Cyrus?" "The day we set for the wedding, was the day someone set fire to the church. There was a children's choir practising in there. They all died." "Did the attacks stop after that?" Cassie and Averie watch as Andrew and Mrs. Robinson talk. "No! There was one more. One night that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible. But Martin, you see, Martin got loose. And he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him and hitting him."

Averie looks at her sympathetically and softly asks "Why didn't you call the cops?" "This was forty years ago. He called on his friends, Clayton Soames and Jimmy Anderson, and they put Cyrus' body into the truck and they rolled it into the swamp at the end of his land and all three of them kept that secret all of these years." she says "And now all three are gone. And so is Mayor Todd. Now he said that you of all people would know he is not a racist. Why would he say that?" She smiles slightly "He was a good man. He was a young deputy back then investigating Cyrus' disappearance. Once he figured out what Martin and the others had done he...he did nothing, because he also knew what Cyrus had done." "Why didn't you tell me?" Cassie asks "I thought I was protecting them. And now there's no one left to protect." "Yes, there is." Averie says, she looks over at Cassie. 

Andrew leans against Impala, Averie paces back and forth. "Ah, my life was so simple. Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms." he says jokingly "So I guess I saved you from a boring existence." "Yeah, occasionally I miss boring." "So this killer truck-" "I miss conversations that didn't start with 'this killer truck'." Averie laughs a little "Well this Cyrus guy. Evil on a level that infected even his truck. When he died, the swamp became his tomb, and his spirit was dormant for 40 years." "So what woke it up?" she shrugs "The construction on his house. Or the destruction."

"Right. Demolition or remodelling can awaken spirits, make them restless." Andrew says "Mmm-hmm." "Like that theatre in Illinois, ya know?" "And the guy that tore down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus' murder quiet and unsolved." "So now his spirit is awakened and out for blood." "Yeah I guess. Who knows what ghosts are thinking anyway." Averie says "You know we're going to have to dredge that body up from the swamp right?" she smiles at him. "Man.." he mutters "You said it." Cassie approaches from the house. Averie stands up "Hey." "Hey. She's asleep. Now what?" "Well you should stay put and look after her... and we'll be back. Don't leave the house." Cassie smiles "Don't go getting all authoritative on me. I hate it." "Don't leave the house please?" she blinks slowly at Averie and she leans in to kiss her, smiling.

Andrew glances over, grinning at them making out, and clears his throat. Averie keeps kissing her, holding one finger back at him to wait.

~NIGHT. THE DORIAN PROPERTY.~

"All right. Let's get her up." Andrew says, Averie is at the wheel of a tow truck. She backs it up, pulling a truck from the water. "All right. A little more. Little more. All right, stop." Andrew yells, Averie turns off the engine and jumps down. "Nice!" he says "Hell yeah." she walks over to the Impala's trunk. "Now I know what she sees in you." "What?" she asks rummaging through the weapons "Come on, you can admit it. You're still in love with her." "Ahh, can we focus please?" "I'm just saying Av." she hands him a container of salt "Hold that." "All right. What am I getting?" She stands up and turns to him "Gas. Flashlight..." he nods "Got it. got it." "Ok, let's get this done." "Alright."

They move toward the door of the truck, glance at each other. Averie opens it, a decayed body falls out. "Alright, lets get this over with." They salt and burn the body and stand watching, "Think that'll do it?" Andrew asks. The ghost truck appears, headlights come on and engine reving "I guess not.." "So burning the body had no effect on that thing?" he whines "Sure it did. Now it's really pissed." "But Cyrus' ghost is gone, right, Av?" she starts walking away "Apparently not the part that's fused with the truck." "Where you going?" "Goin' for a little ride." "What!" Andrew yells at her "Gonna lead that thing away. That busted piece of crap, you gotta burn it." Averie says motining to the truck.

He looks at her "How the hell am I supposed to burn a truck?" "I don't know. Figure something out." he catches the bag she throws at him "Figure some -- something --" he sputters. Averie reverses the Impala and takes off. The ghost truck roars after her, Andrew hides until it has passed. Averie and the Impala lead the truck on a wild ride through the misty back roads, she calls Andrew "Hey, you gotta give me a minute." he says "I don't have a minute. What are we doing?" "Ahh. Let me get back to you." he hangs up "Get back to me?" she says astounded.

He calls Cassie, "Hey Cassie? Hey, it's Sam, I need some information and it has to be exactly right." he calls Averie back and puts Cassie on hold. "All right, Averie?" "This better be good." "Where are you?" "In the middle of no where with a killer truck on my ass! It's like it knows I put the torch to Cyrus." she says grumpily "Listen to me, this is important. I have to know exactly where you are." "Decatur road, about two miles off the highway." he nods "Okay, heading East?" "Yes!"

The Truck backends the Impala, which goes skidding all over the road before gaining traction. "You son of a bitch!" Averie screams, "Ok, ahhh, turn right! Up ahead, turn right." she swings right, the truck follows, both engines screaming and revving. "You make the turn?" "Yeah I made the turn! You need to move this thing along a little faster." "All right, you see a road up ahead?" "No! Wait. No, yes, I see it." The truck is slowly gaining ground on the Impala's left side, "Ok, Turn left." Andrew says "Wha..?" Grimacing, Averie slams on the brakes and the truck careens past as she spins the Impala left onto the smaller road.

"All right, now what?" she asks "You need to go seven tenths of a mile and then stop." "Stop?" "Exactly seven tenths Averie." "Seven tenths, seven tenths." she repeats looking at the speedometer. At the right moment Averie spins the car around and moves it back to sit exactly where Andrew advised, facing back the way she had come. She is between two posts on each side of the road and the last remains of a wall, almost totally broken down. The ghost truck appears back down the road she came down, revving its engine. "Av, you there?" "Yeah." "What's happening?" "It's just staring at me, what do I do?"

"Just what you are doing, bringing it to you." Andrew says "What!" The truck spins it's tyres and comes barreling toward Averie and the Impala. She watches it come, hanging tightly to the Impala's steering wheel. "Come on..Come on." she mutters, as it reaches her, she closes her eyes and hangs on tight. The truck roars through her, disintegrating into nothing as it does so. Averie opens her eyes and stares at the now empty road in front of her. All that can be heard is the purring of the Impala's engine, the truck's revving having completely disappeared. Averie twists quickly to look behind and sees nothing.

"Averie. You still there? Averie?" Andrew asks worried "Where'd it go?" she asks shocked "You're where the church was." "What church!" "The place Cyrus burned down. Murdered all those kids." "There's not a whole lot left." she looks at the posts on the left of the road. "Church ground is hallowed ground, whether the church is still there or not. Evil spirits cross over hallowed ground, sometimes they're destroyed, so I figured, maybe, that would get rid of it." he says "Maybe? Maybe!! What if you were wrong?" "Huh. Honestly that thought hadn't occurred to me." he says. Averie stares at her phone and hangs up, then mimics Andrew "Well it honestly didn't occur to me." she hits the steering wheel "I'm gonna kill him!"

~DAY. THE DOCKS.~

Averie and Cassie walk toward the Impala, Andrew is already in the driver's seat. "My mother says to tell you thanks again." Averie nods and they come to a stop beside the Impala, facing each other. "This is a better goodbye than last time." Cassie says smiling "Yeah well maybe this time it will be a little less permanent." "You know what? I'm a realist. I don't see much hope for us Averie.." "Well I've seen stranger things happen. A hell of a lot stranger." "Good bye Av." "I'll see ya Cassie....I will." They kiss, then pull away and stare into each others eyes. Averie gets in the car, Andrew and Cassie wave to each other and the Impala takes off.

~IMPALA ON A LONG COUNTRY ROAD~

Averie stares out the window while Andrew drives, "I like her." he says smiling "Yeah." "You meet someone like her, doesn't it makes you wonder if it's worth it? Putting everything else on hold, doing what we do?" Averie looks at him for a long moment, then smiles and reaches for his sunglasses, which she slips on "Why don't you wake me up when it's my turn to drive?" "Those are my sunglasses.." he says, she slouches down in the seat with a sigh. Andrew shakes his head and looks back at the long straight road.


	15. Nightmare

~SAGINAW, MICHIGAN. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD. NIGHT.~

A man drives down the street, into his garage and turns off the engine. The garage door starts winding down by itself and he looks at it, confused. His car doors then self lock. He struggles but cannot open them. The ignition key turns by itself and the engine starts. Exhaust smoke begins filling the garage. The man struggles to turn off the engine to no avail. The radio flicks on. The man begins to cough. "Help. Somebody help me!" By now the smoke is very thick and he keels over, unconscious.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew sits up in his bed, suddenly wide awake. He looks across to where Averie is sleeping peacefully. He sits a moment, then moves into action, flipping on the light switch and shaking his sister "Averie, Averie." the moment she stirs, he rises and starts gathering his things. "What are you doing man, it's the middle of the night." she says rubbing her eyes. She sits halfway up "We have to go." "What's happening?" she asks immediately alert but not alarmed. "We have to go. Right now." he grabs his bag and walks out.

~INSIDE IMPALA~

Averie is driving, Andrew is on the phone. He writes down the license plate of the man from before "McReady. Detective McReady. Badge number 158. I've got a signal 480 in progress, I need the registered owner of a two door sedan, Michigan licence plate Mary-Frank-six-zero-three-seven. Yeah ok, just hurry." "Andy, relax. I'm sure it's just a nightmare." she says "Yeah, tell me about it." "I mean it. Y'know, a normal, everyday, naked-in-class, nightmare. This licence plate, it won't check out. You'll see." "It felt different. Real. Like when I dreamt about our old house. And Hannah." "Yeah, that makes sense. You're dreaming about our house, your girlfriend. This guy in your dream, you ever seen him before?" "No.." "No. Exactly. Why would you have premonitions about some random dude in Michigan." 

Andrew sighs "I don't know." "Me neither." he puts the phone back up to his ear "Yeah, I'm here." He listens, glares at Averie, then picks up his pen. "Jim Miller. Saginaw, Michigan. You have a street address? Got it. Thanks." he hangs up and looks at her "Checks out. How far are we?" "From Saginaw? Coupla hours." "Drive faster."

~JIM MILLER'S HOUSE.~

The Impala cruises to a stop, they see the Emergency vehicles and someone on a stretcher being zipped into a body bag. They turn to each other in the car, Averie concerned, Andrew upset. She gets out and approaches the crowd "What happened?" she asks a woman next to her. "Suicide. Can't believe it" Andrew walks up to the woman's other side "Did you know them?" "Saw him in every Sunday at St Augustine's. He always seems...seemed, so normal. I guess you never know what's going on behind closed doors." Averie nods "How did...ahh. How are they saying it happened?" "I heard they found him in the garage, locked inside his car with the engine running." "Do you know about what time they found him?" "Oh it just happened about an hour or two ago. His poor family. I can't even imagine what they're going through."

A woman stands on the front step of the house, crying and leaning against a middle aged man. A young man stands behind them, looking distraught. Andrew watches, grimacing, them turns to walk away. Averie notices and follows him back to lean against the Impala's hood. "Andrew, we got here as fast we we could." "Not fast enough. It doesn't make any sense man. Why would I even have these premonitions if there wasn't a chance I could stop them from happening?" "I dunno." "So what do you think killed him?" he asks sighing "Maybe the guy just killed himself? Maybe there's nothing supernatural going on at all." "I'm telling you, I watched it happen. He was murdered by something Av. I watched it trap him in the garage." "What was it, a spirit, poltergeist, what?" Andrew starts getting slightly worked up "I don't know what it was. I don't know why I'm having these dreams, I don't know what the hell is happening!"

Averie stares at him for a long moment "What?" he asks "Nothing. I'm just, I'm worried about you man." "Well, don't look at me like that!" she looks away "I'm not looking at you like anything." she glances back at him "Though I gotta say, you do look like crap." "Nice. Thanks." he says shaking his head. Averie moves to open the car door "Come on, lets just pick this up in the morning. We'll check out the house, talk to the family." "Av, you saw them, they're devastated They're not going to want to talk to us." "Yeah you're right. But I think I know who they will talk to." "Who?" she smirks.

~MILLER HOUSE. DAY~

Averie reaches out to ring the doorbell, she slips her silver ring off and puts it in her pocket. Andrew glares at her "What?" "This is a new low, even for us." she slicks his hair back a bit more before the door opens. The man comforting Ms. Miller on the step the night before opens the door. Andrew and Averie are dressed as priests in black suits "Good Afternoon. I'm Priest Simmons, this is Father Frehley. We're new junior priests over at St Augustine's. May we come in?" he nods and steps aside. "Thanks." "We're very sorry for your loss. It's in difficult times like these when the Lord's guidance is most needed." Andrew says, "Look, you wanna pitch your whole 'Lord has a plan' thing? Fine. Just don't pitch it to me. My brother's dead." Ms. Miller walks into the room "Roger. Please!" he walks away "I'm sorry about my brother in law. He's...he's just so upset about Jim's death. Would you like some coffee?" "That would be great."

Averie sits on the couch, Andrew is in an armchair. Ms. Miller pours coffee and hands it around "It was wonderful of you to stop by. The support of the church means so much right now." "Of course. After all we are all God's children." Averie says, she walks away and Averie immediately takes more cocktail sausages from the coffee table. Chewing contentedly, she looks at Andrew, who shaking his head. "What?" "Just...tone it down a little bit, _Priest."_ Ms. Miller returns. "So Ms Miller, did you husband have a history of depression?" "Nothing like that. We had our ups and downs like everyone but we were happy. I just don't understand...how Jim could do something like this." "I'm so sorry you had to find him like that." "Actually, our son Elliot, he was the one who found him." she gestures behind her. He looks through the doors into the dining room and sees Elliot sitting in the corner, staring into space. "Do you mind if maybe, I go talk to him?" "Oh thank you Father."

Averie watches Andrew leave, "Ms Miller you have a lovely home. How long have you lived here?" "We moved in about five years ago." "The only problem with these old houses. I bet you have all kind of headaches." "Like what?" "Well, weird leaks, electrical shortages, odd settling noises at night. That kind of thing." she looks at Averie confused "No, nothing like that. It's been perfect." "Huh. May I use your restroom?" "Oh sure, it's just up the stairs." she gets up "Thank you."

Andrew and Elliot sit together "So what was your father like?" "Just a normal Dad." "Yeah. You live at home now?" "Yeah. Trying to save up for school but it's hard." "So when you found your dad..." Elliot looks at the ground "I woke up, I heard the engine running." he pauses for a second "I don't know why he did it." "I know it's rough, losing a parent. Especially when you don't have all the answers."

Averie enters the hallway. Checking the coast is clear, she pulls an infrared thermal scanner from her pocket and turns it on, shining it into rooms as she passes. As she reaches the end of the hall she hears footsteps coming up the stairs and hastily hides the scanner. Andrew appears "Anything?" "Zip." they walk down the stairs together.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie sits on her bed cleaning her guns from the Impala, Andrew walks in "What do you have?" she asks setting the gun down "A whole lotta nothing. Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built." "What about the land?" he lies on the bed "No grave yards, battle fields, tribal lands or any other kind of atrocity on or near the property." "Hey man I told you, I searched that house up and down. No cold spots, sulfur scent. Nada." "And the family said everything was normal?" "Well, if there was a demon or poltergeist in there you think somebody would have noticed something? I used the infer-red thermal scanner man, and there was nothing."

"So what, you think Jim Miller killed himself and my dream was just some sorta freakish coincidence??" he asks "I dunno. I'm pretty sure there's nothing supernatural about that house." he starts rubbing his temples "Yeah. Well, maybe it has nothing to do with the house-" he takes a deep breath "Maybe it's just..." he holds his hand to his forehead "maybe it's connected to Jim in some other way?" Averie looks at him worried "What's wrong?" Andrew yells in pain and falls from the bed to the floor "My head!", she immediately gets up and goes over to him "Andrew? Hey." she crouches next to him and grabs his arms "Hey! What's going on? Talk to me."

Andrew stares at her. Suddenly he flashes out of the motel room and is watching Roger enter his kitchen with groceries. He notices the window is open and closes and locks it, when he returns to unpacking the lock moves by itself and the window slides open again. Roger is confused, he attempts to close it but it sticks. He leans out, twisting to look up at the top of the window. The window slides closed, decapitating him. Blood gushes up over the window.

Andrew focuses back on Averie in the motel room "It's happening again. Something's gonna kill Roger Miller."

~INSIDE IMPALA~

Averie drives, Andrew's on his phone, holding his head "Roger Miller. Ah no no,just the address please. Ok, thanks" he looks over at Averie "450 West Grove, Apartment 1120." he groans in pain. "You ok?" "Y-Yeah." "If you're gonna hurl, I'll pull the car over you know, cause the upholstery..." she says jokingly "I'm fine." "All right.." "Just drive." he looks at her, sighs heavily, and looks away. "Av, I'm scared. These nightmares weren't bad enough, now I'm seeing things when I'm awake? And these, visions, or whatever, they're getting more intense. And painful." he starts tearing up "Come on man, you'll be alright. It'll be fine." "What is it about the Millers. Why am I connected to them, why am I watching them die? Why the hell is this happening to _me_?" "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. We've faced the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing." "No. It's never been us. It's never been in the family like this. Tell the truth, you can't tell me this doesn't freak you out." she looks a head, after a few minutes she says "This doesn't freak me out."

~ROGER MILLER'S APARTMENT BLOCK.~

The Impala pulls up as Roger approaches the entrance with a bag of groceries. "Hey Roger." Andrew says rolling down the window "What are you guys, missionaries? Leave me alone." "Please!" But Roger is gone, Averie guns the engine, jumping the curb as she hurriedly parks. He gets out and runs over "Hey. Roger. We're trying to help! Please! Hey, hey hey hey hey." Andrew runs up to the entrance just as Roger closes it behind him. "I don't want your help." he walks away "We're not priests, you gotta listen to us!" Averie runs over "Roger, you're in danger!" she looks around "Come on. Come on, come on." 

Andrew and Averie run around the corner to a back entrance, it is securely locked. She quickly looks around then kicks it open. They jump to the first level of the fire escape then run up the stairs. When they are one floor from Roger's house, they hear the window slide down and a wet squelching noise. He freezes, Averie sprints past him and grabs the railing. Roger's head lies in the flower bed under the window, his blood all over the kitchen window. Andrew joins her. After a long pause he pulls two handkerchief from his pocket, throwing one to Andrew and starting to wipe down the railing. "Start wiping down your fingerprints, we don't want the cops to know we were here. Come on, come on!" She uses her handkerchief to push up the window leading out to the fire escape "I'm gonna take a look inside." he nods and continues wiping the metal railing.

They walk over to the Impala after a few minutes "I'm telling you there was nothing in there. No signs either, just like the Miller's house." Averie says "I saw something, in the vision. Like a dark shape. Something was....something was stalking Roger." Andrew says frowning "Whatever it was, are you sure it's not connected to their house?" "No, it's connected to the family themselves. So what do you think, like a vengeful spirit?" "Well yeah, there's a few that have been known to latch onto families, follow them for years." "Angiak. Banshees." she nods "Basically like a curse. So maybe Roger and Jim Miller got involved in something heavy, something curse worthy." "And now the something is out for revenge. And the men in their family are dying." he looks at her "Hey, you think Elliot's in danger?" 

"Let's figure it out before he is." Averie says "Well, I know one thing I have in common with these people." Andrew says "What's that?" "Both our families are cursed." she huffs "Our family's not cursed! We just...had our dark spots." "Our dark spots are... _pretty_ dark." she glares at him "You're....dark." 

~THE MILLER HOUSE.~

Elliot leads Andrew and Averie in. They are wearing their priests outfits, "My Mom's resting, she's pretty wrecked." "Of course." Averie says "All these people kept coming with like, casseroles? I finally had to tell them all to go away. You know cause nothing says I'm sorry like a tuna casserole." Andrew smiles, Elliot smiles back. He gestures to the lounge and they all take seats. There is a moments silence, then Andrew sighs "How you holdin up?" "Okay, I guess." "You're dad and your uncle were close?" "Yeah I guess. I mean, they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when I was little." "But not lately much?" "No, it's not that. It's just....we used to be neighbours when I was a kid, and we lived across town in this house. Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time."

Andrew nods "Right. So how was it in that house when you were a kid?" "It was fine. Why?" "All good memories? Do you remember anything unusual? Something involving your father and your uncle maybe?" Averie asks "What do ya....why do you ask?" "Just a question." "No, there was nothing. We were totally normal. Happy." "Good. That's good. Well you must be exhausted. We should take off." she looks at Andrew "Right." he looks at Elliot "Thanks." he smiles at them "Of course."

They walk down the drive to stand beside the Impala "No one's family is totally normal and happy. See when he was talking about his old house?" she asks "He sounded scared." "Yeah Max isn't telling us everything. I say we go find the old neighbourhood, find out what life was really like for the Millers."

~ANOTHER SUBURBAN AREA~

Andrew and Averie stand on the footpath, talking to a man in his front yard. "Have you lived in the neighbourhood very long?" Andrew asks "Yeah, almost 20 years now. It's nice and quiet. Why, you looking to buy?" "No, no, actually, we were wondering if you might recall a family that used to live right across the street I believe." "Yeah the Millers. They had a little boy called Elliot." He nods "Yeah." "Yeah I remember. The brother had the place next door. So uh, what's this about, is that poor kid okay?" "What do you mean?" the man frowns "Well in my life I've never seen a child treated like that. I mean I'd hear Mr Miller yelling and throwing things clear across the street, he was a mean drunk. He used to beat the tar outta Max. Bruises. Broke his arm two times that I know of."

"This was going on regularly?" Andrew asks "Practically every day. In fact that thug brother of his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy but the worst part was the stepmother. She'd just stand there, checked out, not lifting a finger to protect him. I must have called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good." Averie tilts her head "Now, you said 'Step-mother'?" "I think his real mother died. Some sorta...accident. Car accident I think." Andrew has his hand to his head and is grimacing. "You okay there?" he winces "Uh, yeah." Averie puts her arm around him "Thanks for your time." Andrew lifts his head from his hands "Yeah, thank you." 

They turn to go, Averie supporting Andrew. "God." he whines, the world spins. He is suddenly in the Miller's kitchen. Ms Miller is chopping vegetable with a large knife. "I don't know what you mean by that. You know I never did anything!" she says putting the knife down "That's right. You didn't do anything." the knife on the cutting board starts rattling "You didn't stop them, not once." the knife lifts into the air. Ms. Miller starts backing up "How did you?" it moves forward to hold her against the wall. "Elliot please!" The knife twists in front of her face, coming close enough to her eyeball to pierce the tear there so it runs down her cheek, she gasps. "For every time you stood there and watched. Pretending it wasn't happening." "I'm sorry." "No you're not. You just don't wanna die." she gasps and cries. The knife slices right through her eye and out the back of her head.

~INSIDE THE IMPALA~

"Elliot is doing it. Everything I've been seeing" Andrew says "You sure about this?" Averie asks looking at him. "Yeah, I saw him." "How's he pulling it off?" "I don't know, like telekinesis?" "What so he's psychic, a spoon bender?" Andrew frowns "I didn't even realize it but this whole time, he was there. He was outside the garage when his Dad died, he was in the apartment when his Uncle died. These visions, this whole time -- I wasn't connecting to the Millers, I was connecting to Elliot! The thing is I don't get why, man. I guess -- because we're so alike?"

"What are you talking about. The dude's nothing like you." Averie says "Well. We both have psychic abilities, we both..." "Both what? Andrew, Elliot is a monster, he's already killed two people, now he's gunning for a third." "Well, with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people? I'm sorry, man, I hate to say it, but it's not that insane." "Yeah but it doesn't justify murdering your entire family!" "Av.." "He's no different from anything else we've hunted, all right? We gotta end him." she pulls over at the Miller's house. "We're not going to kill him." "Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say 'Lock him up officer; he kills with the power of his mind.'" "No way. Forget it." "Andrew.." "He's a person. We can talk to him. Hey, promise me you'll follow my lead on this one." "Fine." she says before removes her pistol from the glove compartment, glaring at Andrew and opening the door.

~MILLER'S KITCHEN~

"You know I never did anything." Ms. Miller says putting the knife down, "That's right. You didn't do anything. You didn't stop them, not once!" the knife starts rattling. Averie and Andrew burst through the front door "Father? Priest?" she asks confused "What are you doing here?" Elliot asks "Aahh, sorry to interrupt." "Elliot, can we, uh, can we talk to you outside for just one second?" he looks at them suspiciously "About what?" "It's....it's private. I wouldn't want to bother your mother with it." Andrew looks at Ms. Miller "We won't be long at all though, I promise." Elliot nods "Okay."

Averie and Andrew turn for the door, Elliot follows. As Averie grasps the doorknob she turns back to smile at Elliot. He sees the butt of the pistol in Averie's waistband in the hall mirror. Suddenly the knob is pulled from her hand and the door slams shut, as does the wooden window blinds all around the room. "You're not priests!" he says, she draws her gun but Elliot uses his power to pull it away, sliding it across the floor to where he can pick it up. He holds it on them. "El, what's going on?" Ms. Miller asks "Shut up." "What are you doing?" Using his power, he flings her backwards. She hits her head on the kitchen bench and falls to the ground unconscious "I said shut up!" 

"Elliot, calm down." Andrew says "Yeah right, that's why you bought this!" he holds up the gun "That was a mistake all right? So was lying about who we were. But no more lying, okay? Just please, just hear me out." "About what?" "I saw you do it. I saw you kill your Dad and your Uncle before it happened." "W-What?" "I'm having visions Elliot. About you." He stares at Andrew "You're crazy." "So what, you weren't gonna launch a knife at your stepmom?" Andrew taps the side of his eye "Right here? Is it that hard to believe, look what you can do. I was drawn here all right? I think I'm here to help you."

Elliot starts crying "No one can help me." "Let me try. We'll just talk, me and you. We'll get Averie and Alice out of here." "Uh-huh. No way." Averie says, they look up as the chandelier starts to shake "Nobody leaves this house!" Elliot yells "And nobody has to, all right? They'll just...they'll just go upstairs." "Andrew, I'm not leaving you alone with him!" "Yes you are. Look, Elliot. You're in charge here, all right, we all know that. No one's going to do anything that you don't want to do but I'm talking five minutes here man." "Andrew!" he looks over at his stepmother "Five minutes? Go." the chandelier stops shaking. Averie runs over and picks Alice up.

Andrew and Elliot sit in the lounge. Elliot stares at a letter opener and it raises on its point and begins twirling slowly. "Look, I can't begin to understand what you went through." "That's right you can't." "Elliot, this needs to stop.." "It will, after my stepmother --" "No. You need to let her go." he glares at him "Why?" "Did _she_ beat you?" "No, but she never tried to save me. She's a part of it too." "What they did, to you, what they all did to you growing up, they deserve to be punished..." "Growing up? Try last week." Elliot stands up, he lifts his shirt to show masses of bruises. "My dad still hit me. Just in places people wouldn't see it. Old habits die hard I guess." Andrew frowns and softly says "I'm sorry." 

"When I first found out I could move things it was a gift. My whole life I was helpless but now I had this. So last week Dad gets drunk. The first time in a long time. And he beats me to hell, first time in a long time. And then I knew what I had to do." Elliot says sitting back down "Why didn't you just leave?" "It wasn't about getting away. Just knowing they would still be out there. It was about...not being afraid. When my Dad used to look at me, there was hate in his eyes. Do you know what that feels like?" "No.." "He blamed me for everything. For his job, for his life, for my Mom's death." "Why would he blame you for your Mom's death?" Elliot tears up "Because she died in my nursery, while I was asleep in my crib. As if that makes it my fault." Andrew looks at him shocked "She died in your nursery?" "There was a fire. And he'd get drunk and babble on like she died in some insane way. He said that she burned up. Pinned to the ceiling!"

Andrew sits there, sort of in shock "Listen to me Elliot. What your Dad said, about what happened to your Mom. It's real." "What?" "It happened to my Mom too, exactly the same. My nursery, my crib, my Dad saw her on the ceiling." "Your Dad must have been as drunk as mine." "No, no. It's the same thing. The same thing killed our mothers." Elliot shakes his head "That's impossible." "This must be why I'm having visions during the day. Why they're getting more intense. Cause you and I must be connected in some way. Your abilities, they started 6-7 months ago right, out of the blue?" he looks at him shocked "How'd you know that?"

Andrew sighs "Cause that's when my abilities started too. Yours seem to be much further along but still, this has to mean something right? I mean for some reason, you and I...you and I were chosen." "For what?" "I don't know. But Averie and I, my sister and I, we're hunting for your Mom's killer. We can find answers, answers that can help us both. But you gotta let us go Max. You gotta let your stepmother go." "No. What they did to me. I still have nightmares. I'm so scared all the time, like I'm just waiting for that next beating. I'm so sick of being scared all the time, I just want this to be over!" "It won't. Don't you get it? The nightmares won't end. Not like this. It's just, more pain. And it makes you as bad as them. Elliot, you don't have to go through all this by yourself." "I'm sorry.." he uses his powers to fling Andrew backwards into the hall closest and slam the door. He looks across and a tall, heavy, hallway bookshelf slides in front of the doors, blocking them. "No. Elliot!" 

Alice sits on the bed, Averie crouches beside her, holding a facecloth to her bleeding forehead. The door creaks open on its own and Elliot walks in. Averie rises and moves purposefully toward him as the door closes behind him. He sends her flying and she crashes into the wall. "Elliot!" Alice yells, he raises Averie's pistol, his hand shaking "Son of a bitch.." Averie whispers. She stands, freezing when she sees the gun, then again beginning to walk toward Elliot. She stops when he lets go of the gun, leaving it floating in mid air. It cocks, then turns to point at Alice. Averie steps in its way "Stay back. This is not about you." he says "You wanna kill her you gotta go through me first." "Okay." he says smiling. The gun fires, blood splatters over the wall. Averie with a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead, eyes blank wavers and crashes heavily to the ground. Alice screams, Elliot laughs "She was in the way.."

Andrew breathes, heavily crying, he comes back to himself, gasping and holding his head. "No! NOOO!" he yells. The bookcase in front of the closet doors slides away. He freezes, then pushes the door with his hand. It swings open.

The gun, in midair, turns to point at Alice. "Elliot!" she yells, Averie steps in front of her and the gun turns to point at her. "Stay back. This is not about you." he says "You're going to kill her you gotta go through me first." "Okay." he says smiling. The door bursts open, Andrew runs in, "No don't! Don't! Please. Please. Elliot. We can help you. All right. But this, what you're doing. It's not the solution. It's not gonna fix anything." Elliot is a mess, he is shaking, sweaty, in tears. He stares at Andrew, anguished. Suddenly he relaxes a little, his face clears "You're right." Andrew smiles, but he turns away from him as the gun swings to point at him. He shoots himself in the head. "NO!" Andrew yells

Alice, Andrew, and Averie sit downstairs in the lounge with police officers. "Elliot attacked me. He threatened me with a gun." Alice says, the cop points at Averie and Andrew "And these two?" "They're...family friends. I called them soon as he arrived, I was scared. They tried to stop him. They fought for the gun." "Where did Elliot get the gun?" Alice starts crying "I don't know. He showed up with it and..." Averie and Andrew glance at each other. Alice breaks down "It's all right Ms Miller." the officer says "I've lost everyone." he turns to the Walkers "We'll give you a call if we have any further questions." "Thanks officer." she patts Andrew's arm "Come on."

They walk down the path "If I'd just said something else. Gotten through to him somehow." Andrew says "Ah, don't do that." "Do what?" "Torture yourself. It wouldn't have mattered what you said, Elliot was too far gone." "When I think about how he looked at me, right before. I shoulda done something." "Come on man, you risked your life. I mean yeah, maybe if we had gotten there 20 years earlier." they move to different sides of the Impala. "Well I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had Dad." Andrew says, Averie looks at him smiling "Well I never thought I'd hear you say that." "Well, it coulda gone a whole other way after Mom. I little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we woulda had Elliot's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. Thanks to him." she turns and looks at Elliot's house "All things considered.."

~MOTEL ROOM.~

Andrew places a bag in the trunk of the Impala which is backed up to the door, and goes inside. "Av, I've been thinking." "Well that's never a good thing." Averie says smiling "I'm serious. I been thinking, this demon, whatever it is. Why would it kill Mom, and Hannah, and Elliot's mother, you know? What does it want?" "I have no idea." he frowns "Well, you think, maybe, it was after us? After Elliot and me?" "Why would you think that?" she says looking at him. "I mean, either telekinesis or premonitions, we both had abilities, you know? Maybe he was, he was after us for some reason." "Andrew. If it had wanted you, it would've just taken you. Okay? This is not your fault, it's not about you." "Then what is it about?" "It's about that damn thing that did this to our family. The thing that we're gonna find, the thing that we're gonna kill. And that's all." Averie says smiling. 

"Actually there's uh ... there's something else too." "Ah, jeez, what?" "When he left me in that closet, with that big cabinet against the door ... I moved it." "Huh. You got a little more upper body strength than I gave you credit for." she chuckles. "No man, I moved it. Like, Elliot." she stops grabing her clothes "Oh." there's silence for a minute. "Yeah." Averie grabs a spoon and playfully says "Bend this." "I can't just turn it on and off." he says "Well how'd you do it?" "I don't know, I can't control it. I just....I saw you die and it just came out of me, like a, like a punch. You know like...a freak adrenaline thing." "Yeah well I'm sure it won't happen again." "Yeah, maybe. Aren't you worried? Aren't you worried I could turn into Elliot or something?"

Averie smiles "Nope. No way. You know why?" Andrew looks at her "No. Why?" "Cause you got one advantage he didn't have." "Dad? Because Dad's not here, Av." "No. me." she smirks "As long as I'm around, nothing bad is gonna happen to you." he pulls her into a hug and kisses her forehead. Averie backs away, and slings her bag over her shoulder "Now then. I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go." "Where?" "Vegas." she grins. Andrew tilts his head, looks away, looks back, does a bitchface and walks out the door to the car. "What? Come on man. Craps tables. We'd clean up!" she follows him to the door and pauses on the threshold. Andrew considers, looking very thoughtful, then turns to pull the door closed.


	16. The Benders

~MCKAY HOUSE. HIBBING, MINNESOTA. NIGHT~

A young boy is watching TV in his bedroom. He hears a noise outside and looks out the window. A man is walking in a parking lot with two bags of garbage in his hands. The man throws the bags into a dumpster and starts walking back to his car. He hears the same screeching noise and stops. He gets down on his knees and looks under the car. He sees something that horrifies him, and stands up quickly. An invisible force pulls him back to the ground, on his stomach. He is dragged under the car, screaming, until he is gone. The boy looks frightened and shuts the curtains.

The next morning, Averie and Andrew are dressed as sheriffs talking to the boy, Evan, and his mother Mrs. McKay. "I know you're just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already. I don't see why we have to go through this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it's true." she says "Mrs. McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities." Andrew says, "But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so. Don't worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan. You just tell us what you saw." Averie says. Evan looks at them "I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this weird noise." "What did it sound like?" "It sounded like....a monster." Averie and Andrew exchange a glance. "Tell the officers what you were watching on TV." he looks ashamed "Godzilla Vs. Mothra." Averie smiles "That's my favorite Godzilla movie. It's so much better than the original, huh?" "Totally." she points at Andrew "He likes the remake." "Yuck!" he glares at her and clears his throat. She stops smiling, "Evan, did you see what it was?"

"No. But I saw it grab Mr. Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car." he says "Then what?" "It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound." "What did it sound like, Evan?" "Like this...whining growl." "Thanks for your time." Andrew says, he and Averie leave.

~ KUGEL'S KEG. NIGHT.~

Andrew is having a beer at a table, looking at research. Averie is nearby, throwing darts "So, local police have now ruled out foul play. Apparently, there are worse signs of a struggle." he says "Well, they could be right, it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn't our kind of gig." "Yeah, maybe not. Except for this—Dad marked the area, Av." she walks over and looks at the journal, he looks at her "Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker." "Why would he even do that?" "Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, then vanishes. He found this too—this county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state." she shakes her head "That's weird.." "Yeah." "Don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Jenkins was taken from a parking lot."

"Well, there are all kinds. You know, Spring Heeled Jacks, phantom gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, Av, I don't know if this is our kind of gig either." "Yeah, you're right, we should ask around more tomorrow." Andrew pulls his wallet out "I saw a motel about five miles back." he stands up. Averie looks at him "Whoa, whoa, easy. Let's have another round." "We should get an early start." "Yeah, you really know how to have fun, don't you, _Grandpa_?" she asks playfully, he smiles "Alright, I'll meet you outside, I gotta take a leak." she grabs her jacket and heads to the bathroom. He grabs his things and walks out.

Andrew is walking back to the car, he hears a noise and stops. He places the journal on the hood of the car and takes out a flashlight from his coat pocket. He turns it on and looks around, then bends down to look under the car. He sees a cat, which hisses at him then runs away. "Whoa!" He sees the animal and laughs at himself. He gets up, shaking his head, then waits by the car.

Minutes later Averie comes out of the bar and walks to the car. She sees that Andrew is missing, but notices the journal on the hood. She opens the car door and checks to see if he is inside, but he isn't there. She looks around, confused. A group of people walk out of the bar, she walks up to a biker and his girlfriend "You guys been out here in the past few minutes?" they shake their heads and walk away. "Andrew!" Averie calls out, she starts searching frantically "Andy!?" She turns around and notices a surveillance camera on top of a streetlight. She walks into the middle of the deserted road and looks around. "Andrew?"

~SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT~

A deputy, Kathleen, is looking at Averie's fake ID. "So, what can we do for you, Officer Washington?" "I'm working a missing persons." "I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police." "Oh, no. No, there's someone else. Actually, it's my cousin. We were havin' a few last night at this bar down by the highway. And I haven't seen him since." Averie says looking around the room "Does your cousin have a drinking problem?" "Andrew? Two beers and he's doin' karaoke." Kathleen smiles "No, he wasn't drunk. He was taken." she nods and sits down at her computer. Averie follows her and sits also "Alright. What's his name?" "Walker. Andrew Walker." "Like the rifle?" "Like the rifle." Averie says smiling.

Kathleen types Andrew's name in the computer and brings up his police record. She observes the page, then clicks on Averie's link and brings up her record. "Andrew William Walker, So, you know that his sister, Averie Walker, died in St. Louis. And, uh, was suspected of murder." She nods "Averie, Kind of the black sheep of the family. Adorable, though." "Uh huh.." She types something else and brings up more search results on the computer. "Well, he ain't showing up on any current field reports." "Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway." "The county traffic cam?" "Right. Yeah. I'm thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever."

"Well, I have access to the traffic cam footage down at the county works department, but—well, anyhow, let's do this the right way." Kathleen stands up and gets some paperwork from a filing cabinet. "Why don't you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?" She hands her a clipboard. "Officer, look, uh, he's family. I kind of—I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you." Averie says "I'm sorry, I can't do that." "Well, tell me something. Your county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of 'em come back?" Kathleen frowns "Andrew's my responsibility. And he's comin' back. I'm bringin' him back." she says tearing up.

~UNKNOWN LOCATION~

Andrew is asleep in a cage. He jerks awake and observes his surroundings. He rattles the bars of the cage. He looks around and notices Jenkins asleep in a cage next to his, he looks around fearfully "Averie!?" he calls out.

~COUNTY WORKS DEPARTMENT.~

Averie is sitting on a bench outside. Kathleen comes behind him, holding printouts of the camera footage. "I think we've got something." she stands up and turns, Kathleen hands her the printouts, she looks through them. "These traffic cams take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, disappeared." "This really isn't what I'm looking for." "Just wait, wait—next one." she turns the page and sees an image of a rusty truck driving. "This one was taken right after he left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing. Now, look at the plates." she looks at the plates. "Oh, the plates look new. It's probably stolen." "So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved."

A beat-up van drives by, the engine is whining loudly. Averie listens "Hear that engine?" "Yeah?" "Kind of a whining growl, isn't it?" "I'd say so." she stares at the van as it drives away "I'll be damned.." she whispers .

~UNKNOWN LOCATION~

Andrew is trying to kick down the door of his cage, but he fails. Jenkins groans and wakes up. Andrew rushes over to talk to him through the bars of their cages "You're alive." Jenkins groans "Hey, you okay?" "Does it look like I'm doin' okay?" "Where are we?" "I don't know. The country, I think. Smells like the country." "You're Alvin Jenkins, aren't you?" "Yeah." Andrew sighs "I was lookin' for ya." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah." "Well, no offense, but this is a piss-poor rescue." He looks at Jenkins "My sister's out there right now, too. She's lookin' for us. So—" "So, she's not gonna find us. We're in the middle of nowhere. Waiting for them to come back and do God-knows-what to us." 

"What are they? Have you seen them?" he asks "What are you talking about?" "Whatever's got us, what'd they look like?" "See for yourself." The door to the building opens and two men wearing black coats and hats walk in. One man walks over to Jenkins' cage and kicks the side of it. He moves back into the corner, the other man goes to a panel of buttons attached to a pole in the middle of the room. He inserts a key into the panel and twists it. the cage unlocks. The men enter. "Don't you take me, leave me alone!" The men place a plate of food in front of JENKINS. They leave the cage and walk over to the panel. One of the men twists the key again and removes it, which locks the cage. They leave, and Jenkins devours his food.

Andrew watches them leave "I'll be damned. They're just people." "Yeah. What'd you expect?" "How often do they feed you?" "Once a day. And they use that thing over there to open the cage." he points to the panel. Andrew looks over "And that's the only time you see 'em?" "So far. But I'm waitin'." "Waitin' for what?" "Ned Beatty time." "I think that's the least of your worries right now." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "What do you think they want, then?" Jenkins asks, Andrew reaches through the top of his cage and grabs a long metal wire stretching from the top of the pole to the ground. He tries to pull it down "Depends on who they are." "They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me. Lookin' for love in all the wrong places." Andrew continues to pull on the wire. It gradually starts to detach from the pole.

~SHERIFF'S CAR~

Kathleen points to a passing traffic camera "Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one, so...." "So, it must've pulled off somewhere. I didn't see any other roads here." Averie says looking out the window "Well, a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads." "Great.." New information comes up on Kathleen's computer. She clicks the highlighted item and brings up a page about Averie's fake ID. She reads it and looks concerned. "So, Gregory." she says, Averie turns to look at her "Yeah?" "I ran your badge number. It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you." "Mmhmm." 

"And, uh, they just got back to me." she pulls the car over "It says here your badge was stolen. And there's a picture of you." She turns the computer to Averie, shee sees a picture of a heavy African-American man. "I lost some weight, got a sex change, And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease." Kathleen unbuckles her seatbelt "Okay, would you step out of the car, please?" "Look, look, look. If you wanna arrest me, that's fine. I'll cooperate, I swear. But, first, please—let me find Andrew." "I don't even know who you are. Or if this Andrew person is missing." Averie looks at her "Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this." "Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer." 

"Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe. I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast—please." Averie's voice breaks "He's the only family I have left.." "I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in." She glances at her visor. Her eye catches a photo of her and another man, smiling. She looks sad and sighs "After we find Andrew Walker.." She fastens her seatbelt, Averie looks at her confused.

~UNKNOWN LOCATION~

Andrew is still trying to pull the metal coil from the beam, "What's your name, again?" "It's Andrew." "Why don't you give it up, Andy, there's no way out." Jenkins says looking at him "Don't....call me....Andy!" he groans and finally pulls the coil from the beam, a small piece of metal falls to the ground too. "What is it?" Andrew picks it up and looks at it "A bracket." "Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?" Suddenly, Jenkins' cage unlocks itself and opens. "Must've been short.." he climbs out "Maybe you knocked somethin' loose."

Andrew looks at him "I think you should get back in there, Jenkins." "What?" "This isn't right." "Don't you wanna get out of here?" he sighs "Yeah. But that was too easy." "Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, okay, don't worry." "No, I'm serious. Jenkins—this might be a trap." "Bye, Andy." He pushes open the door "Jenkins!" the cage's door slams shut.

Outside, Jenkins is walking around the outside of a rundown house. He finds a knife on the ground and picks it up. He looks up to the sky "Thank you.." he starts running into the woods. He continues walking. He hears a noise and raises his knife, then starts to run in the rain. Before long, a man in camouflage jumps in front of him and knocks him down with a long knife. he falls to the ground, but sticks his own knife in the man's leg. The man stumbles, allowing Jenkins to get up and run away. He reaches a clearing. 

He looks around, lost. Suddenly, another camouflaged man appears and puts his knife through Jenkins' leg, then removes it. The second camouflaged man appears, and they both point their knives at Jenkins, who is on the ground. He is able to get up and run away. The men watch him and laugh. He keeps running, but trips over a thin wire on the ground. The men catch up to him and raise their knives.

Andrew hears Jenkins scream from far away, he tenses up and whispers "Averie, please get here."

~STREET~

Averie and Kathleen are walking back to the car, holding cups of coffee. "Hey, Officer? Look, I don't mean to press my luck." "Your luck is so pressed." "Right. I was wondering—why are you helping me out, anyway? Why don't you just lock me up?" Kathleen sighs and looks at her "My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago. A lot like Andrew. We searched for him, but—nothing. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone, and for them—Come on. Let's keep at it." they get into the car.

~EDGE OF FOREST~

They are driving past "Wait, wait, wait—pull over here. Pull over." Averie says, Kathleen pulls over "It's the first turn-off I've seen so far." she gets out. "You stay here, I'll check it out." Kathleen says walking over to her side "No way." "Hey, You're a civilian. And a felon, I think. I'm not taking you with me." "You're not goin' without me." she sighs and looks at Averie "Alright. You promise you won't get involved? You'll let me handle it?" "Yeah, I promise." "Shake on it?" she holds her hand out, Averie shakes her hand and she puts handcuffs on her. "Oh, come on." Kathleen cuffs her to the car handle and starts walking away. "This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you're gonna need my help." "I'll manage. Thank you." she locks the doors and continues walking. "I gotta start carrying paper clips."

Kathleen passes a rundown barn, along with several wagon wheels strewn along the grass. She walks further and sees a dilapidated house. She makes her way to the front porch and climbs up the stairs. "Hello? Anyone home?" she knocks on the door. A young girl, Missy, comes outside, covered in dirt and filth. She is unwashed and has long, uncombed hair. "Hi. Who are you?" Missy comes closer and examines Kathleen's badge. "Who are you?" "I'm, uh, I'm Kathleen. I'm a deputy. What's your name?" "Missy." "Missy. That's a pretty name. Missy, is your mom home?" "She's dead." Missy says frowning.

"I'm sorry. What about your dad?" Kathleen asks, Missy shakes her head "No? Can I come in for a minute?" she shakes her head again and starts moving towards the door. "I just want you to look at a picture." Kathleen takes a picture of Andrew out of her pocket and shows Missy "Have you seen that guy? Look at that picture." Missy looks up and sees something behind Kathleen. She smiles wickedly. "What?" "That's gonna hurt." Kathleen turns around and sees a tall man, Pa Bender, standing beside her. He hits her in the head with a shovel, and she falls to the ground, unconscious. "Missy, sweetheart, go tell your brothers I wanna see 'em." "Yes Daddy." she walks away.

Averie is looking around for something to unlock the handcuffs. She finally notices the antenna of the car and reaches for it, but is too far away. She hears the screech of the pickup truck "Oh, son of a bitch." she stretches farther, the truck starts getting closer. She finally reaches the antenna as Jared and Lee Bender start walking to the car. The antenna comes loose and falls to the ground. She picks it up and begins unlocking the handcuffs. Jared and Lee reach a clearing and see the car. They laugh and walk to the side of the car but Averie is gone. "I've never seen him so angry before." "Well, Lee, never been followed by the police before." Lee unlocks the car and gets in.

~BENDER'S BARN~

Kathleen is in a cage. She is wearing a dirty white T-shirt, and her hair is down. She wakes up and groans, massaging her head, she looks over and sees Andrew with his head resting on his knees. She can hear him crying "Are you Andrew Walker?" he looks over at her "Yeah." "Your, uh, your cousin's looking for you." he smiles "Thank God. Where is she?" "I, uh—I cuffed her to my car." he sighs. The door opens and Averie enters, but they do not know it is her, Andrew crawls into the back of his cage. Averie observes the barn, disgusted. She sees Andrew in his cage "Andrew?" he looks at her and immediately starts moving to the front of the cage "Are you hurt?" "No." "Damn, it's good to see you." he nods.

Kathleen looks at her "How'd you get out of the cuffs?" "Oh, I know a trick or two." she kneels in front of the cage "Oh, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch." "Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there." he says pointing to the panel. "Have you seen 'em?" "Yeah. Dude, they're just people." "And they jumped you? Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo." She walks over to the control panel and starts trying different buttons. "What do they want?" "I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me." "Well, that's the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy." "See anything else out there?" "Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I'm thinkin' when they take someone, they take their car, too."

Kathleen hits her cage "Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?" Averie nods "Yeah, actually, I did. Your brother's?" she nods "I'm sorry. Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards." Averie turns to Andrew "This thing takes a key. Key?" "I don't know." "Alright, I better go find it." she turns to leave "Hey. Be careful, please." "I will be." she leaves.

~BENDER'S HOUSE~

Averie is in a dark room. She turns on her flashlight and starts to look around. The room is filled with shelves of jars and bottles, which contain various body parts. She looks at a container filled with an unrecognizable item "Yikes.." She keeps searching the room and comes across a wall full of Polaroid pictures. Each photo shows Jared and Lee standing next to a dead body. He notices a picture of them holding Jenkins' corpse "I'll say it again—demons I get. People are crazy." she moves to a flight of stairs and climbs them.

Pa Bender is in the kitchen, butchering something. Averie comes upstairs and looks around the living room. A record is playing in the background, she bumps into a windchime "What the --" the windchime is made of bones. She sees a wooden pole leaning against the wall and picks it up. She leans against the wall and her his way toward the kitchen. Averie notices a small tray filled with keys, on a nearby table. She takes a peek inside the kitchen. Pa turns around to pick up another tool, and she turns away. She moves towards the tray of keys, and starts to pick it up when she notices a jar full of teeth. Averie examines it, disgusted, then hears the floor creak behind him. She sets the jar down and turns around quickly. Missy is standing before her.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." Averie says, Missy holds up a knife "I know." She sticks the knife into Averie's jacket, pinning him against the wall. "Daddy!" "What the hell!" Averie says, "Daddy!" Averie removes the knife. Jared and Lee come downstairs. "Daddy!" Jared grabs Averie under her arms. Lee walks towards them, but she jumps up and kicks him. Jared throws her into the wall, causing the knife to fall to the floor. Lee runs towards her, but she grabs him first and pushes him to the ground. She then punches Jared, but is thrown into the wall again by Lee. All three of them stand up, she points at Jared "I'm gonna kick your ass." she looks at Lee "Then yours." Pa comes up behind Averie and hits her over the head with a pan. She falls to the floor, unconscious.

In the living room, The Benders are crowded around Averie, who is sitting in a chair, with her hands tied behind her back. She wakes up, groaning. "Come on Pa. Let us hunt her." "Yeah, this one's a fighter. Sure would be fun to hunt." Pa chuckles. Averie sighs "Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me. That's what this is about? You -- you yahoos hunt people?" Pa steps in front of her "You ever killed before?" "Wh-- Well, that depends on what you mean." "I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear—I even got a cougar once. Oh boy. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive." "You're a sick puppy."

Pa smiles "We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy." "Yeah, well, don't sell yourself short. You're plenty sloppy." Averie says glaring at him. "So, what, you with that pretty cop?" Missy looks up at her older brother with a smile. "Are you a cop?" "If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?" Pa looks at her angrily, Lee walks over and punches her in the face. "Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know." he walks over to the fireplace and picks up the fire poker.

"Yeah, how 'bout it's not nice to marry your sister?" she says smiling "Tell me—any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you?" "Oh, eat me. No, no, no, wait, wait, wait—you actually might." Jared walks over and holds her head in place "You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games." He looks at them "Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys." he turns back to Averie "And you get to pick the animal. The boy or the cop?" "Okay, wait, wait—look, nobody's comin' for me, alright? It's just us." she says scared, "You don't choose, I will." Pa unbuttons her shirt and places the hot poker on her chest, she screams in pain. He removes the poker "Ah, you son of a bitch!" he places the poker right in front of her eye "Next time, I'll take an eye." 

"Alright, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!" Averie whines, Jared lets go of her head, and Pa moves the poker. He takes a key from around his neck and hands it to Lee "Lee, go do it. Don't let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage." she looks at him with and with fear in her voice says "What? I thought you said you were gonna hunt him. You were gonna give him a chance!" "Lee, when you're done with the boy—shoot the bitch, too." Lee nods and leaves, with his rifle. Pa sighs "Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin' out here." Averie shuts her eyes scared.

~BARN~

Lee enters and walks over to the control panel. He inserts the key and twists it "What are you doing?" Andrew asks, the door to his cage unlocks and Lee walks towards him. He notices the bracket on the floor and grabs it. Lee opens the cage door and aims his gun. "Hey!" Kathleen yells.

~HOUSE~

Averie hears a gunshot, she starts crying and starts thinking ' _I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Andy.._ ' she looks at Pa and yells "You hurt my brother, I'll kill you, I swear. I'll kill you all. I will kill you all!" he walks over to the open front door "Lee!" 

~BARN~  
Andrew and Lee are both out of the cage. Andrew is on top of Lee. He grabs the gun and hits him in the face with it three times. Lee collapses on the floor, Andrew tries to fire the gun, but it does not work. "Damn it." he mutters.

~HOUSE~

"Lee!" Lee does not respond. Pa turns to the other two. "Jared, you come with me. Missy, you watch her now." Jared grabs two rifles, hands one to Pa, and they both leave. Missy remains next to Averie, holding a knife dangerously close to her eye.

~BARN~

Pa and Jared enter, guns raised, and look around. "Lee! Where are ya? Lee!" Pa yells. They find him unconscious, locked in Andrew's cage. "Damn it, Jared, get the lights!" Jared moves over to the light switch and pushes it up. The barn remains dark "They must have blown the fuses." Pa tries the control panel, but it is broken. They move into another room of the barn. Andrew hides behind a bale of hay. They hear a noise, Jared looks around in one area of the room, while Pa climbs a ladder leading to a balcony. 

Kathleen moves to a cabinet, unseen, and opens it, but she hears a noise and stops. Jared also hears something. He walks to the cabinet and stands to face it. He fires his rifle several times at the doors, but she does not come out. He opens the cabinet, but finds nothing inside but tools. He looks around the barn, when, suddenly Kathleen falls on top of his back. She wraps her arms around his neck and wrestles with him, before being knocked to the ground. Meanwhile, Pa is chasing after Andrew. He fires his rifle twice, but Andrew escapes. While Kathleen is on the ground, Jared aims his gun at her. "You stupid bitch." he gets ready to shoot her, but Andrew enters.

"Hey!" Jared turns around and sees him. He fires the gun, but Andrew runs away to dodge it. At the same time, Pa walks in behind him and gets hit with the bullet instead. He falls to the ground. Jared cocks the gun and turns around. Andrew appears behind him and grabs the gun. He hits Jared in the face with the rifle several times, and he collapses, unconscious. Andrew places Jared in Kathleen's cage and closes the door. He walks to the control panel and locks the cage. He makes his way over to Kathleen, who is standing over Pa, with her gun raised. "I'll watch this one. You go ahead." she says, he stands there "Go ahead." he leaves. "You hurt my family, I'm gonna bleed you, bitch." "You killed my brother." "Your brother?" he laughs "Now I see." "Why did you do it?" "Because it's fun." He cackles. Kathleen looks at him, horrified, and fires the gun.

~HOUSE~

Andrew walks in the front door, Averie's chair is empty and Missy is missing. "Averie?!" he calls out walking forward, Averie walks around the corner "Andy?" she asks tearing up, she runs to him and hugs him. She breaks down crying "I thought I lost you, oh my god..Andy.." he hugs her tightly and starts crying himself. "You're not gonna lose me, not anytime soon at least." he smiles resting his chin on her head. "I-I heard the gunshot, I thought you were dead!" he looks at her "But I'm not, am I?" she shakes her head before crying some more.

Averie and Andrew walk out the house and down the stairs, they meet up with Kathleen, who is leaving the barn. "Where's the girl?" she asks "Locked her in a closet. What about the dad?" "Shot. Trying to _escape_." they all share a look. The three of them stand at the cop car "I think the car's at the police station." Averie says frowning, Kathleen is listening to a woman on her walkie-talkie " _Backup unit en route to your location."_ She walks over to Averie and Andrew "So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They're gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you're both long gone by then." "Thanks. Hey, listen, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?" Averie asks "Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car." "Sounds great to me. Thanks." Andrew says "Listen, uh....I'm sorry about your brother." Averie says smiling sadly.

Kathleen looks at her "Thank you." she begins to tear up. "It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth—but it isn't really." She pauses "Anyway, you should go." They nod and start walking away, she watches them with tears in her eyes.

~ROAD~

Averie and Andrew are walking down a road "Never do that again." she says "Do what?" "Go missin' like that." he smiles softly "You were worried about me, and I was scared I'd never see you again.." She looks at him "All I'm sayin' is, you vanish like that again, I'm not lookin' for ya." " _Sure, you won't."_ he says playfully "I'm not!" he laughs "So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?" "Oh, shut up." "Just sayin', gettin' rusty there, kiddo." she starts chuckling "Shut up." he smiles and looks at his big sister ' _I'm so happy you're alive_.' he thinks, she looks at him ' _I don't know what I'd do without you, you're the one thing keepin me alive.'_


	17. Shadow

~ALLEY. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. NIGHT~

A young woman, Meredith, is walking home while listening to music on her iPod. A tall, burly man bumps into her. She gives him a disgusted look and continues to walk. Shortly after turning the corner, her iPod stops playing music. She takes off her headphones "Great.." A strong wind begins to blow around her. Garbage and leaves scatter everywhere "Hello?" she calls out, nobody answers. She tries to ignore the wind and keeps walking. As she nears her apartment, she looks over her shoulder and sees the shadow of a man on the wall of a building. The silhouette begins to follow her. Meredith breaks into a run. She dashes across the street and finally reaches her apartment. Frantically, she grabs her keys and rushes to find the right one. She finds the key and opens the door, then goes inside and slams it shut.

~APARTMENT~

Meredith bursts through the door and locks it behind her, she enters a code into the alarm system " _Alarm deactivated_." she enters a second code " _Alarm activated_." She leaves the room and goes to the kitchen to get a beer after setting down her bag and keys. Meredith then moves to the living room and listens to the messages on her answering machine. " _Hey, Meredith. It's Kristen. You have to tell me what happened last night. Call me._ " The beep sounds and another message begins to play. While she listens to the message, the shadow begins to form on the wall of the apartment. 

It begins as a swirling cloud of smoke and morphs into the silhouette of a tall, skinny creature. The creature's shadow slowly moves towards Meredith's shadow on the wall. It sticks its long, sharp-nailed fingers through her chest. Her blood splatters on the wall, and she falls to the ground.

~OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT. ONE WEEK LATER. DAY~

Andrew and Averie stop the Impala across the street and get out, dressed as employees of the alarm system company. Averie gets a toolbox from the trunk of the car, and they proceed towards the apartment "All right, Av. This is the place." "You know, I've gotta say Dad and me did just fine without these stupid costumes. I feel like a high school drama dork." she looks at him and smiles "What was that play that you did? What was it – Our Town. Yeah, you were good, it was cute." "Look, you wanna pull this off or not?" he says glaring at her. "I'm just sayin', these outfits cost hard-earned money, okay?" "Oh yeah, _whose_?" "Ours. You think credit card fraud is easy?"

~MEREDITH'S APARTMENT~

Averie, Andrew, and the Landlady walk in. "Thanks for lettin us in." Andrew says, "Well, the police said they were done with the place, so...." she and Andrew walk farther into the apartment. Averie shuts the apartment door and notices the chain on the door is broken. She follows them. In the living room, spots of blood cover the carpet "You guys said you were with the alarm company?" "That's right." The landlady chuckles "Well, no offense, but your alarm's about as useful as boobs on a man." Averie smiles, trying to picture it, Andrew looks at her and shakes his head "Well, that's why we're here. To see what went wrong and stop it from happening again." Averie looks at her "Now, ma'am, you found the body?" "Yes." "Right after it happened?" 

"No. Few days later. Meredith's work called—she hadn't shown up. I knocked on the door. That's when I noticed the smell." she says frowning, Averie sighs "Any windows open? Any sign of break-in?" "No, windows were locked, front door was bolted. Chain was on the door, we had to cut it just to get in." "And the alarm was still on?" "Like I said, bang-up job your company's doin'." Averie nods and looks at Andrew "Mmhmm. You see any overturned furniture, broken glass, signs of struggle?" "Everything was in perfect condition—except Meredith." Andrew looks at her "And what condition was Meredith in?"

"Meredith was all over. In pieces. The guy who killed her must have been some kind of a whackjob. But I tell you, if I didn't know any better, I'd have said a wild animal did it." Averie and Andrew look at each other. "Ma'am, do you mind if we take some time? Give this place a once-over?" "Oh, well, go right ahead. Knock yourself out." The lady leaves, Averie pulls a EMF meter out of the tool-box. "So, a killer walks in and out of the apartment—no weapons, no prints, nothin'." she says "I'm tellin' ya, the minute I found that article, I knew this was our kind of gig."

The EMF meter starts beeping frantically, "I think I agree with you." "So, you talked to the cops?" "Uh, yeah." she smirks "I spoke to Amy, a, uh, charming, perky officer of the law." "Yeah? What'd you find out?" he looks at her as she smiles "Well, she's a Sagittarius. She loves tequila, I mean—wow. Oh, and she's got this little tattoo—" "Averie!" "What? Yeah. Uh, nothin' we don't already know. Except for one thing they're keepin' out of the papers." he tilts his head "What?" "Meredith's heart was missing." "Her heart?" 

Averie nods "Her heart." "So, what do you think did it to her?" Andrew asks stunned "Well, the landlady said it looked like an animal attack. Maybe it was—werewolf?" "No, no werewolf, the lunar cycle isn't right. Plus, if it was a creature, it would've left some kind of trace. It's probably a spirit." "See if you can find any masking tape around."

Later, Averie uses the masking tape to connect each pool of blood. When she is done, the pieces of tape form an unusual symbol. "Ever see that symbol before?" Andrew asks looking at it "Never." "Me either.." they look at each other confused.

~BAR. NIGHT~

Averie is flirting with the bartender. Andrew enters and looks around. She notices and takes one last drink, then smiles at the bartender and leaves "See ya." she says before walking over to where Andrew is leafing through pages of research. "I talked to the bartender." "Did you get anything? Besides his number?" "Dude, I'm a professional. I'm offended that you would think that." he gives her a knowing look. "All right, yeah, yeah." she chuckles and holds up a napkin with the guys number on it, he shakes his head "You mind doin' a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Av?" "Huh? Look, there's nothing to find out. I mean, Meredith worked here, she waited tables, everyone here was her friend. Everybody said she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died, so—what about that symbol, you find anything?"

Andrew sighs "Nope, nothing. It wasn't in Dad's journal or in any of the usual books. I just have to dig a little deeper, I guess." Averie nods "Well, there was a first victim, right? Before Meredith?" "Right. Yeah." He pulls out a newspaper clipping concerning the first death. "His name was, uh—his name was Ben Swardstrom." He hands the clipping to her "Last month he was found mutilated in his town house. Same deal—the door was locked, the alarm was on." "Is there any connection between the two of them?" she asks "Not that I can tell—I mean, not yet, at least. Ben was a banker, Meredith was a waitress. They never met, never knew anyone in common—they were practically from different worlds."

"So, to recap, the only successful intel we've scored so far is the bartender's phone number." Averie says chuckling, Andrew sees something across the room. She turns and looks around "What?" he gets up and walks away "Andrew?" he continues to walk away. He reaches another table, where a young woman with short blonde hair is seated with her back to him. He puts his hand on her shoulder, and she turns around. It is Olivia. "Olivia?" "Andrew?" she says smiling, he looks at her confused.

"Andrew! Is that you? Oh, my God!" she stands up, they hug, "What are you doing here?" she asks. "I'm just in town, visiting friends." she looks around "Where are they?" "Well, they're not here right now, but what about you, Liv? I thought you were goin' to California." Averie comes up behind Andrew. "Oh, I did. I came, I saw, I conquered. Oh, and I met what's-his-name, something Michael Murray at a bar." "Who?" "Oh, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the whole scene got old, so I'm living here for a while." Averie clears her throat, but is ignored. Andrew tilts his head "You're from Chicago?" "No, New York—Manhattan. Gosh, Andrew, what are the odds we'd run into each other?"Olivia smiles "Yeah, I know, I thought I'd never see you again." "Well, I'm glad you were wrong." he nods, Averie clears her throat louder. "Cover your mouth." Olivia says glancing at her.

"Yeah, um, I'm sorry, Olivia. This is, uh—this is my sister, Averie." Andrew says, "This is Averie?" Olivia stares at her "Yeah." he says, she smiles "So you've heard of me?" "Oh, yeah. I've heard of you. Nice—the way you treat your brother like luggage." "I'm sorry?" she asks confused. "Why don't you let him do what he wants to do? Stop dragging him over God's green earth." Andrew looks at Olivia "Liv, It's okay." they three of them stand there in silence for a minute.

"Okay, awkward. I'm gonna get a drink now." Averie says, she gives Andrew a puzzled look and walks over to the bar. "Andrew, I'm sorry. It's just—the way you told me she treats you....if it were me, I'd kill her." "It is alright, she means well." "Well, we should hook up while you're in town." "Sure." "I'll show you a hell of a time." "You know what, that sounds great. Why don't you, uh—why don't you give me your number?" he pulls his phone out "312-555-0143." she smiles, he looks at her "You know what, I never got your last name." "Stabler." "Stabler?" "So, you better call." " _Scout's Honor_." he says jokingly "I hope to see you around, Andrew." she says smiling, he smiles and walks away.

Andrew and Averie walk back to the car "Who the hell was she?" she asks "I don't really know. I only met her once. Meeting up with her again? I don't know, it's weird." "And what was she saying? I treat you like luggage? What, were you bitchin' about me to some chick?" he sighs and looks at her "Look, I'm sorry, Averie. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. But that's not important, just listen—" "Well, is there any truth to what she's saying? I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Andrew?" "No, of course not. Now, would you listen?" "What?" "I think there's somethin' strange going on here, Av."

"Yeah, tell me about it. She wasn't even that into me." Averie says chuckling "No, I mean like our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead." Andrew says, "Why do you say that?" "I met Olivia weeks ago, literally on the side of the road. And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar? I mean, the same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don't think that's a little weird?" "I don't know, random coincidence. It happens." "Yeah, it happens, but not to us. Look, I could be wrong, I'm just sayin' that there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on." Averie smiles "Well, I bet you'd like to. I mean, maybe she's not a suspect, maybe you've got a thing for her, huh?" Andrew laughs "Maybe you're thinkin' a little too much with your upstairs brain, huh?" she smirks and points to her head.

Andrew becomes serious again "Do me a favor. Check and see if there's really a Olivia Stabler from Manhattan, New York, and see if you can't dig anything up on that symbol on Meredith's floor." "What are you gonna do?" she asks "I'm gonna watch her." she laughs "Yeah you are." "I just wanna see what's what. Better safe than sorry." "All right, you little pervert." "Shut up." he shoves her "I'm goin', I'm goin'." she crosses the street leaving him alone. 

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie is on the computer, researching Olivia and the symbol. She picks up her cell phone and dials a number, Andrew answers "Hey." "Let me guess. You're lurkin' outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?" "No." she sits in silence waiting for another answer "Yes." "You've got a funny way of showin' your affection." she chuckles "Did you find anything on her or what?" "Sorry, man, she checks out. There is a Olivia Benson-Stabler in the Manhattan phone book. I even pulled up her high school photo and her marriage licence, then her husbands death certificate. Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading, or whatever it is you do, huh?" he ignores her question "What about the symbol? Any luck?"

Averie looks down at the research "Yeah, that I did have some luck with.. It's, uh—turns out it's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva." "What's a Daeva?" "It translates to "demon of darkness". Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic, you know, nasty attitudes—kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls." Andrew smiles "How'd you figure that out?" "Give me some credit, man. You don't have a corner on paper chasin' around here." she hears him laugh "Oh, yeah? Name the last book you read." she sighs "No, I called Dad's friend, John. He told me, all right?" "Yeah.." he glances up at Olivia's bedroom window.

"Anyway, here's the thing—these Daevas, they have to be summoned, conjured." "So, someone's controlling it?" "Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'. And, from what I gather, it's pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms, and torsos." he sighs "So, what do they look like?" "Well, nobody knows, but nobody's seen 'em for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient? Someone really knows their stuff. I think we've got a major player in town. Now, why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?" "Oh bite me!" he says annoyed. "No, bite her. Don't leave teeth marks, though—" "Shut up." "Make me!" 

~IN THE IMPALA~

Andrew sits in the driver seat, him and Averie are still bickering. He glances back up at Olivia's window. A few seconds later, a light turns on, she enters her bedroom, wearing a black lace bra. He looks around uncomfortably, then continues to watch her, and hangs up. She puts on a T-shirt. Andrew is interrupted by someone clearing their throat. He turns and sees a woman standing outside the car, looking annoyed. She gestures to the window "Oh, no, no, no, I'm just—" "Pervert." the woman walks away. He is stunned. A second later, Olivia leaves her apartment, now wearing a sweatshirt and jacket as well. She walks across the street, briefly glancing at the Impala. Once she is gone, Andrew, who had been hiding, sits up. He gets out of the car and follows her. She stops at a graffiti-covered wall. She looks around before pulling open a door, which seems to be part of the wall. When she is inside, Andrew peers out from behind a building. He also walks to the wall and enters through the camouflaged door.

~WAREHOUSE~

Andrew enters and walks up a flight of stairs. He reaches a door at the top, which he attempts to open, but it is locked. He looks around and sees a broken down elevator gate. He enters the gate and begins to climb the side of it, using different bars as footrests. When he reaches the top, he is able to peer through the gate into a dimly lit room. There is a black altar in the middle of the room. He sees Olivia enter and walk over to the altar. He keeps watching silently while hanging on to the bars of the gate. She reaches the altar and picks up a silver bowl filled with blood. She swirls her finger around in the liquid and speaks an incantation in an ancient language. She then begins to speak to someone he can't hear. "I don't think you should come. (...) Because the Walkers, they're in town, I didn't know that—(...) Yes, sir. (...) Yes, I'll be here—waiting for you."

Andrew looks confused, Olivia sets down the bowl and blows out the candles at the altar, then leaves the room. Once she is gone, he moves to the wall, where there is a space through which he can crawl. He hoists himself up and climbs into the room. Andrew walks to the altar and observes it. He sees several human hearts on the table, along with other ancient items. In the middle of the altar is the Zoroastrian symbol, drawn in blood "What the hell?"

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew enters and looks around for Averie, they see each other. "Dude, I gotta talk to you." they say at the same time. A few minutes later, they sit on the bed talking "So, hot little Olivia is summoning the Daeva?" Averie asks "Looks like she was using that black altar to control the thing." "So, Andy's got a thing for the bad girl." she chuckles, he rolls his eyes "And what's the deal with that bowl again?" "She was talking into it. The way witches used to scry into crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with someone." "With who? With the Daeva?" "No, you said those things were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's comin' to that warehouse."

Averie thinks for a moment and glances at some files on a nearby table. She sits down at the table and looks through them. "Holy Shit.." she mutters "What?" "What I was gonna tell you earlier—I pulled a favor with my friend, Amy, over at the police department. The complete records of the two victims—we missed something the first time." "What?" he gets up and walks over to the table. "The first victim, the old man—he spent his whole life in Chicago, but he wasn't born here. Look where he was born." "Lawrence, Kansas." he says sadly "Mmhmm." she picks up the second file. "Meredith, second victim—turns out she was adopted. And guess where she's from." the paper reads 'Lawrence, Kansas.' Andrew sits across from Averie, clearly shocked.

"Holy shit." he says "Yeah." she smiles "I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom. That's where everything started. So, you think Olivia's tied up with the demon?" "I think it's a definite possibility." "But I don't understand. What's the significance of Lawrence? And how do these Daeva things fit in?" Andrew asks sighing. "Beats me. But I say we trash that black altar, grab Olivia, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation." Averie says, "No, we can't. We shouldn't tip her off. We've gotta stake out that warehouse. We've gotta see who, or what, is showin' up to meet her." "I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we should do this alone."

Later. Averie is leaving a message on Ethan's voicemail. While she is talking, Andrew enters the room with bags full of weapons "We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mom. So, uh, this warehouse—it's 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can." she hangs up, he looks at her "Voicemail?" "Yeah.." she motions to the bags "Jesus, what'd you get?" he chuckles "I ransacked that trunk. Holy water, every weapon that I could think of, exorcism rituals from about a half dozen religions. I'm not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything." Averie nods and they load the guns silently.

"Big night." she says, "Yeah. You nervous?" he looks at her "No. Why, are you?" "No. No way." he's silent for a few seconds "God, could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing? That demon?" "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, all right?" she says smiling. "I know. I'm just sayin', what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I'd sleep for a month. Go back to school—be a person again." Andrew says smiling happily, Averie frowns "You wanna go back to school?" she says sounding hurt. "Yeah, once we're done huntin' the thing." "Huh.." "Why, is there somethin' wrong with that?" "No. No, it's, uh, great. Good for you."

"I mean, what are you gonna do when it's all over?" he asks looking at her "It's never gonna be over. There's gonna be others. There's always gonna be somethin' to hunt." "But there's got to be somethin' that you want for yourself—" "Yeah, I don't want you to leave the second this thing's over, Andrew." she walks over to the dresser. He sighs "What's your problem?" "Why do you think I drag you everywhere? Huh? I mean, why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place?" she starts tearing up, "'Cause Dad was in trouble. 'Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom." "Yes, that, but it's more than that, man." Averie returns to the dresser and is silent again, then once more turns to Andrew. "You and me and Dad—I mean, I want us....I want us to be together again. I want us to be a _family_ again." she starts crying a little "Av, we are a family. I'd do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before." she looks at him heartbroken with tears streaming down her face "They could be.."

~WAREHOUSE~

Andrew and Averie climb the elevator gate and reach the top room. Olivia is standing at the altar, speaking in an ancient language. Quietly, they squeeze through the space between the gate and the wall. They draw their guns and move to the other side of the room, hiding behind some crates. "Hiding's a little bit childish, don't you think?" Olivia says, they look at each other stunned. "Well, that didn't work out like I planned." Averie says, she turns to face them. "Why don't you come out?" Andrew and Averie come out from behind the crates. "Andrew, I have to say, this puts a real crimp in our relationship." "Yeah, tell me about it." Averie glares at her "So, where's your little Daeva friend?" "Around. You know, that shotgun's not gonna do much good." "Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. The shotgun's not for the demon." Andrew looks at Olivia "So, who is it? Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?" she smiles "You." The Daeva begins to form on the wall. It knocks Andrew to the ground and throws Averie into the crates. A claw-like scratch appears on Andrew's face. 

A few minutes later, Averie and Andrew are tied to two separate posts. Andrew wakes and sees Olivia sitting before him. "Hey, Andrew? Don't take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend...is a bitch." Averie says "This, the whole thing, was a trap. Running into you at the bar, following you here, hearin' what you had to say. It was all a set-up, wasn't it? And that the victims were from Lawrence?" "It doesn't mean anything. It was just to draw you in, that's all." Olivia says smiling. "You killed those two people for nothin'." "Baby, I've killed a lot more for a lot less." Averie looks at her "You trapped us. Good for you. It's Miller time. But why don't you kill us already?" 

"Not very quick on the uptake, are we?" she leans close "This trap isn't for you." Averie sits there puzzled, Andrew figures it out immediately "Dad. It's a trap for Dad." Averie looks at him then Olivia "Oh, sweetheart—you're dumber than you look. 'Cause even if Dad was in town, which he is not, he wouldn't walk into something like this. He's too good." "He is pretty good. I'll give you that." she walks over to her and sits down, straddling her legs. "But you see, he has one weakness." "What's that?" 

"You. He lets his guard down around his kids, lets his emotions cloud his judgment. I happen to know he is in town. And he'll come and try to save you. And then the Daevas will kill everybody—nice and slow and messy." "Well, I've got news for ya. It's gonna take a lot more than some....shadow to kill him." Averie says "Oh, the Daevas are in the room here—they're invisible. Their shadows are just the only part you can see." Andrew whines "Why you doin' this, Olivia? What kind of deal you got worked out here, huh? And with who?" "I'm doing this for the same reasons you do what you do—loyalty. Love. Like the love you had for Mommy—and Hannah." 

"Go to hell!" he yells glaring at her "Baby, I'm already there." She smiles and slides over to Andrew. "Come on. There's no need to be nasty." she leans in to whisper in his ear. "I think we both know how you really feel about me. You know, I saw you watching me—changing in my apartment. Turned you on, didn't it?" Averie groans "Get a room you two." "I didn't mind. I liked that you were watching me. Come on, Andy. You and I can still have a little dirty fun." she kisses his neck. "You wanna have fun? Go ahead then. I'm a little tied up right now." he says smiling, she smiles and continues to kiss him. 

A noise on Averie's side of the room makes her stop. She gets up and walks behind Averie's post. She sees she has a knife in her hand. She takes it away and tosses it into a corner. Olivia swings around to the other side of the post, and smiles at Averie, who chuckles guiltily. She slides back over to Andrew "Now, were you just trying to distract me while your sister cuts free?" "No. No. That's because I have a knife of my own." Andrew says, Olivia is confused. He breaks free from his ropes and grabs her shoulders, then knocks his head against hers. She falls to the floor while he groans in pain "Andrew! Get the alter!" He walks over to the altar and overturns it. Suddenly, the shadow demon appears and grabs Olivia. She is dragged across the floor and crashes through the window, falling down to the street below. Andrew grabs his knife and cuts Averie free from her ropes. They walk over to the window and see Olivia sprawled on the sidewalk, dead "So, I guess the Daevas didn't like being bossed around." "Yeah, I guess not. Hey, Andrew?" "Hm?" "Next time you wanna get laid, find a girl that's not so buckets-o'-crazy, huh?"

~MOTEL HALLWAY~

They are walking back to their room "Why didn't you just leave that stuff in the car?" Averie asks "I said it before, and I'll say it again—better safe than sorry." she unlocks the door. They see the outline of a man standing by the window "Hey!" Averie yells, Andrew turns on the light. The man turns around, it's Ethan, Averie and Andrew stand there stunned. "Dad?" Averie asks "Hey kiddos." he says smiling. Averie and Ethan walk towards each other and share a long, emotional hug. Andrew watches sadly. They pull apart a few seconds later. "Hi, Andrew."

"Hey Dad." Andrew and Ethan don't hug, but look at each other. He places the bag full of weapons on the floor "Dad, it was a trap. I didn't know, I'm sorry." "It's all right. I thought it might've been." Ethan says smiling "Were you there?" Averie asks "Yeah, I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?" Averie and Andrew both say "Yes sir." "Good. Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before." Andrew looks at him "The demon has?"

Ethan nods "It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell—actually kill it." "How?" he smiles "I'm workin' on that." "Let us come with you. We'll help." Andrew says, Averie gives him a warning look. "No, Andrew. Not yet. Just try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in a crossfire. I don't want you hurt." "Dad, you don't have to worry about us." "Of course I do. I'm your father." he pauses "Listen, Andy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight." "Yes, sir." he says sadly "It's good to see you again. It's been a long time." "Too long." He and Ethan embrace, crying. A minute later, they pull apart. The three of them look around tearfully. Suddenly, a Daeva attacks Ethan. He is thrown into a set of cabinets and falls to the ground. Andrew collapses to the ground. "No!" Averie yells.

Andrew, Averie, and Ethan are being attacked by the shadow demons. They groan and scream in pain as they are flung around the room. Fresh scratches appear on their faces, Andrew makes his way to the bag of weapons on the floor. He removes a flare from the bag "Shut your eyes! These things are shadow demons, so let's light 'em up!" He lights the flare, and the room is instantly filled with smoke and a brilliant white light. The shadow demon vanishes, the three of them try to feel their way around the room, coughing and sputtering. "Dad!" Averie shouts, "Over here!" Averie makes her way to Ethan and helps him up. Andrew follows them out of the room, carrying the bag of weapons.

They exit the building and walk down an alley to the car. Andrew puts the bag in the backseat of the car, he looks at Averie and Ethan "All right, come on. We don't have much time. As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back." "Wait, wait, wait! Andrew, wait. Dad, you can't come with us." Andrew looks at her "What? What are you talkin' about?" Ethan starts tearing up "You two, you're beat to hell.." "We'll be all right." Averie says smiling sadly. Andrew gets upset "Averie, we should stick together. We'll go after those demons—" "Andrew! Listen to me! We almost got Dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop. They're gonna try again. They're gonna use us to get to him. I mean, Olivia was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He—he's stronger without us around."

He starts crying "Dad--No." he puts a hand on his father's shoulder. Averie watches sadly. "After everything-- after all the time we spent lookin' for you—please. I gotta be a part of this fight." Ethan looks at him with tears in his eyes "Andy, this fight is just starting. And we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son." he shakes his head no. "Okay, you've gotta let me go." All three of them are silent for a moment, close to tears. Finally, Andrew looks at his hand on his dad's shoulder, and then pats his father's shoulder once, then lets go. Ethan and Averie share a look, then Ethan walks to his truck. Once there, he looks back at them one more time. "Be careful, please." he gets in and drives away.

"Come on." Averie says, she and Andrew get into the Impala and watch as their father's truck turns the corner. They look at each other knowingly. Without a word, Averie starts the car. She backs into the street, then speeds down the road and around a corner. Olivia comes onto the street from a flight of stairs. She turns and watches them leave.


	18. Hell House

~RICHARDSON, TEXAS. TWO MONTHS AGO (April 13, 2006). NIGHT.~

Three guys, one holding a torch, and a girl, walk along a muddy path. "Come on man, is it much further? I'm cold." Harry asks, "It should be just up here. A deserted cabin comes into focus through the mist." the man with he torch, Craig, says. "Whoa!" Maggie says smiling, "There we go." Craig says "How'd you find this place anyway Craig?" Ed asks. "My cousin told me about it." he says "I am so not going in there." Maggie says "Wuss'. We came all the way out here may as well check it out." Ed groans "Let's just hurry this up and get back to the car all right? It's friggin cold out here." Craig and Ed move ahead.

Harry looks at Maggie "You want me to hold your hand?" she thinks about it then takes his hand. He smiles and jokingly says "Are there ... any other parts I can hold?" she laughs and hits him "Eww! Shut up, you loser." he laughs "Come on! What?!" 

~INSIDE ABANDONED HOUSE~

Craig shines a flashlight, they see symbols drawn on the walls, "No way. Look at this stuff.....Come on. It's this way." they move into another room. "They say that it lives in the root cellar. It goes after girls. Always girls. It just, strings 'em up." Ed looks at him "They say? Who's they? Where'd you hear this crap?" "I told you, my cousin." he sighs "And where'd she hear it?" "I don't know. She just heard it." Craig says. Ed smiles "Whatever. Gimme that thing." he snatches the flashlight and opens the door to the basement and goes downstairs. The others follow more slowly "Ooooh look. It's the evil root cellar. You know where Satan cans all his vegetables. Come on, get your candy ass down here and see for yourselves. It's just a basement full of skank-filled jars in some crap farmhouse. I don't see anything scary." he says laughing "Do you?"

The others join him and look around. They freeze, looking over his shoulder, terrified, "What?" he pauses "What? What is it?" he turns, there's a girl hanging from the rafters. He screams.

~INTERSTATE 35. PRESENT DAY (June 13, 2006). AFTERNOON~

Averie is driving, she looks over and sees Andrew sleeping with his mouth open. She feels around then gently places a plastic spoon in his mouth. Grinning, she flips open her phone and takes a photo, then turns the music up loud. "Fire...of unknown origins...took my baby away!" she sings off-key. Andrew jerks up, realizes something is in his mouth, panics and waves his arms as he spits it out. Averie air drums along to the song on the steering wheel then looks over, grinning as Andrew wipes his mouth and turns down the music "Ha ha, very funny."

She smiles "heh heh heh. Sorry, not a lot of scenery here in East Texas, kinda gotta make your own." "Man we're not kids anymore Av. We're not going to start that crap up again." he says grumpily. "Start what up?" "That prank stuff. It's stupid, and it always escalates." she does a fake sad face "Aw, what's the matter Andy, scared you're going to get a little Nair in your shampoo again huh?" he smiles "All right, just remember you started it." she shrugs "Bring it on baby!" 

Andrew looks out the window "Where are we anyway?" Averie looks over at him for a second "A few hours outside of Richardson. Gimme the lowdown again?" he grabs papers from the backseat. "All right, about a month or two ago this group of kids goes poking around in this local haunted house." "Haunted by what?" he sighs and says "Apparently, a pretty misogynistic spirit. Legend goes, it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. Anyway this group of kids see this dead girl hanging in the cellar." "Anybody ID the corpse?" "Well, that's the thing. By the time the cops got there the body was gone. So cops are saying the kids were just yanking chains."

Averie shrugs "Maybe the cops are right?" "Maybe, but I read a couple of the kids firsthand accounts. They seemed pretty sincere." Andrew says "Where'd you read these accounts?" he gets a little embarrassed "Well, I knew we were going to be passing through Texas. So, umm, last night, I surfed some local ..." he quickly says " _paranormal websites._ And I found one." she smiles "And what's it called?" "HellHoundsLair.com" "Lemme guess, streaming _live_ out of _Mom's_ _basement_." he chuckles "Yeah, probably." "Yeah. Most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit 'em in the ass." "Look. We let Dad take off. Which was a mistake, by the way. And now we don't know where the hell he is, so meantime we gotta find ourselves something to hunt. There's no harm checking this thing out." "All right. So where do we find these kids?" he looks at her "Same place you always find kids in a town like this."

~NIGHT. FAST FOOD OUTLET 'RODEO DRIVE'.~

The impala pulls up, they get out and walk into Rodeo Drive. Snippets of the people that were at the Hell House being interviewed:

Ed sits with Averie "It was the scariest thing I ever saw in my life, I swear to God."   
Harry sighs "From the moment we walked in the walls were painted black."  
Maggie looks fearful "Red. I think it was blood."  
Ed frowns "All these freaky symbols."  
Harry looks at them "Crosses and stars and..."  
"Pentagrams!" Ed whines  
"Pentacostals." Harry whispers  
"Whatever, I had my eyes closed the whole time." Maggie says   
"But I can damn sure tell you this much. No matter what anybody else says..." Harry says  
Maggie frowns "That poor girl."  
"With the black..."  
"Blonde."  
"Red hair, just hanging there!" Maggie whimpers.  
"Kicking, not able to breathe." Harry says  
"Without even moving!"  
"She was real." Maggie says looking at them  
"One hundred percent."   
"She was kinda hot, in a dead way." Ed says shrugging

"Okay!" Averie says looking at Andrew with raised eyebrows, "And.... how'd you find out about this place anyway?" he asks the three of them, who are now sitting together, "Craig." "Craig." "Craig took us."

~MUSIC SHOP.~

Andrew and Averie enter, Craig looks up from behind the counter "Fellas. Can I help you with anything?" he asks, Averie nods "Yeah, are you Craig Thurston?" "I am." she smiles "Well we're reporters with the _Dallas Morning News._ I'm Averie, this is Andrew." he looks at both of them. "No way. Well I'm writer too. I write for my school's lit magazine." Averie shakes her head "Well, good for you Morrissey." Andrew looks at her, then looks at Craig "Umm. We're doing an article on local hauntings and rumor has it you might know of one." he tilts his head "You mean The Hell House?" "That's the one."

"I didn't think there was anything to the story." Craig says, Andrew sighs "Why don't you tell us the story?" "Well, supposedly back in the '30s this farmer, Mordachai Murdoch, used to live in this house with his six daughters. It was during the Depression, his crops were failing, he didn't have enough money to feed his own children. So I guess that's when he went off the deep end." "How?" "Well, he figured it was best if his girls died quick, rather than starve to death. So he attacked them. They screamed, begged for him to stop but he just strung 'em up, one after the other. And when he was all finished he just turned around and hung himself. Now they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl that goes inside."

Averie looks at him "Where'd you hear all this?" Craig shrugs "My cousin Dana told me. I don't know where she heard it from. Ya gotta realize, I -- I didn't believe this for a second." "But now you do." "I don't know what the hell to think, man. You guys, I--I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real. And she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't wanna go anywhere near that house ever again, okay?" "Thanks." she says.

~"HELL HOUSE"~

Andrew and Averie slush up the muddy path to the house, "Can't say I blame the kid." she says, "Yeah, so much for curb appeal." They both look around the house, Andrew walks over to Averie, who is holding the EMF. It's making sounds "You got something?" he asks, she taps it "Ye-ah. The EMFs no good." "Why?" she points to the powerlines above "I think that thing's still got a little juice in it. It's screwing with all the readings." "Yeah that'd do it." he sighs "Yeah. Come on, let's go." They head inside and start looking around.

Averie whistles "Looks like old man Murdock was a bit of a tagger here in his time." Andrew nods "And after his time too. That reverse cross has been used by Satanists for centuries but this sigil of sulfur didn't show up in San Franciso until the '60s." she glances at him "That is exactly why you never get laid." she moves to a wall "Hey what about this one, you seen this one before?" then gestures at a symbol. It is a cross with a dot in the middle, the bottom stroke looks like an upside-down question mark. "Nah." "I have. Somewhere." he walks over and rubs the symbol "It's paint. Seems pretty fresh too."

She looks at him "I don't know Andrew. You know I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind, but ... the cops may be right about this one." "Yeah, maybe." A sudden noise has them on alert. They take up positions either side of a door. Averie nods and they bust through. Bright lights shine in their eyes. "Oh, cut. It's just a coupla people!" Harry yells, Ed holds a small electrical gadget, the other a camera which he switches off. Harry looks at them "What are you guys doing here?" "What they hell are you doing here?" Averie asks, starting to get hostile, "We belong here, we're professionals?" "Professional _what_?" "Paranormal Investigators." He hands them both business cards "There you go, take a look at that, kids." 

Averie grumbles "Oh you gotta be kidding me." Andrew looks at the card "Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler? Hellhoundslair.com. You guys run that website." "Yeah." Ed says. Averie smiles "Oh _yeah_ , yeah, we're huge _fans_." "And ahh, we know who you guys are too." Averie and Andrew look at Ed sharply, "Y-You do?" Andrew asks nervously. "Amateurs. Looking for ghosts and cheap thrills." Harry nods "Yep. So if you guys don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here." 

Averie stops herself from laughing "Yeah, what have you got so far?" "Harry, why doncha tell 'em about EMF?" Harry looks at them "Well.." Andrew plays dumb and tries not to smile "EMF?" "Electromagnetic field? Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector. Like this bad boy right here." Harry pulls out a EMF and turns it on, Averie and Andrew look at each other smiling. "Whoa. Whoa. It's 2.8mg." Ed looks at Harry "2.8. It's hot in here." Averie whistles in admiration "Wow!" Andrew says, Averie looks at Ed and Harry "Huh. So you guys ever really seen a ghost before, or..."

"Once. We were, uh...we were investigating this old house and we saw a vase fall right off the table..." Ed says, Harry nods "By itself!" "Well, we, we we we didn't actually see it, we heard it. And something like that...it uh...it changes you." Averie raises her eyebrows "Yeah. I think I get the picture. We should go, let them get back to work." Ed looks at them "Yeah, you should." She taps Andrew's arm "Andrew, let's go." As they leave Ed looks at Harry "I'm sorry. That pot we smoked gave me the giggles."

~PUBLIC LIBRARY~

Andrew exits and walks down the stairs as Averie approaches him "Hey." "Hey, what'd you get?" she asks. "Well I couldn't find a Mordechai but I did find a Martin Murdock who lived in that house in the '30s. He did have children but only two of them, both boys, and there's no evidence he ever killed anyone." "Huh.." "What about you?" They have reached the Impala and stand talking over the top of it "Well those kids didn't really give us a clear description of that dead girl but I did hit up the police station. No matching missing persons. It's like she never existed. Dude, come on, we did our digging, man, this one's a bust all right. For all we know those hellHound boys made up the whole thing." Averie says "Yeah all right." "I say we find ourselves a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals."

Averie gets into the car, Andrew leans down, smiling, to look in the window. She turns the key in the ignition. Latino pop-dance music blasts from the speakers; when she tries to turn it off, the wipers turn on. Averie rears back "WHOA! What the..." she quickly turns everything off. Andrew gets in, laughing. He licks his finger and marks an imaginary '1' in the air then points to himself. She gives him a dirty look "That's all you got?" Weak! That is bush league." 

~HELL HOUSE. DUSK~

Two girls and a guy approach the house. "This is it. The point of no return." he says, "Why do I have to go in there?" the one girl asks "Because Jill you chose dare. You either have to grab a jar from Mordechai's cellar and bring it back or...." the other one says, the guys smiles "Make out with me." Jill gives them both a dirty look "I'll take the homicidal ghost, thanks." She turns on her torch and slowly approaches the house, leaving the other two behind. "Would you ever take that dare?" The guy asks, "Hell no!" the girl yells.

Jill cautiously moves inside. There is a noise like knives being sharpened "Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?" she walks through some hanging chicken feet. She makes her way to the cellar, looks around, and moves toward the jars. She takes one, but hears a sound, whirls, and drops the jar, panicked "Ok. Ok ok ok ok." She turns and sees Mordechai. He throws a rope around her neck and she screams and keeps screaming as she is hoisted in the air.

Emergency vehicles and men move around. The girl's body is bought out on a stretcher, Averie and Andrew approach a man standing outside. "What happened?" she asks, "A coupla cops say a girl hung herself in the house." "Suicide?" "Yeah. She was a straight A student, with a full ride to UT too. It just don't make sense." he walks away. Averie and Andrew look at each other "Whaddaya think?" he asks, "I think maybe we missed something."

~HOURS LATER, NIGHT~

A police car is parked outside, two cops stand around. Andrew and Averie crouch in the bushes. "I guess the cops don't want anyone else screwing around in there." he says, "Yeah but we still gotta get in there." Averie hears whispers and peeks from their hiding place. "I don't believe it.." Andrew spins to look. Ed and Harry are approaching: hunched over, wearing all sorts of gadgets, whispering and shh-ing each other.

"I got an idea." she whispers smiling, she rises slightly, turns towards the cops and cups a hand to her mouth. "Who ya gonna call!" The cops turn and see Ed and Harry "Hey! You!" there's suddenly a mixture of voices " _Freeze. Run! Come on! Get back here. Hey!"_ The cops chase Ed and Harry back down the path. Laughing, Andrew and AVerie make a break for the house.

Once inside, Andrew breaks out the rifles, handing one to Averie. She turns on a flashlight "Where have I seen that symbol before? It's killing me!" "Come on, we don't have much time." They go down to the basement and look around. Averie spies the jars and picks one up for a closer look, a pale red liquid sloshes around inside. "Hey, I dare you to take a swig of this." "What the hell would I do that for?" he asks looking at her "I double dare you." he just shakes his head, looking away. She grins, a noise has them both on alert and they move toward the cabinet.

At Averie's nod Andrew opens the door. Rats squeak and run from the light, Averie lifts her feet "I hate rats!" Andrew laughs "You'd rather it be a ghost?" "Yes!" Behind Andrew, Mordechai has appeared. They realize at the same time and swing around to see Mordechai raising an axe above his head. Andrew shoots him twice but he's still there. Averie shoots him again and he mists away. "What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" he asks, "I dunno. Come on. Come on come on!" As they run toward the stairs Mordechai smashes his axe down, catching the shelves and bringing the jars crashing down on Averie. Mordechai and Andrew begin fighting "Go! Get outta here!" Mordechai smashes the electrical box and sparks fly everywhere. They bolt for the door.

Outside, Ed and Harry creep back to the house, "Maybe we should just get out of here." Harry says raising his night vision goggles. "No. Would John Edward go? We've lost the cops, let's find our centre and get some work done. Ok? All right?" As they approach the porch, camera raised, Andrew and Averie run out. They fall through the emergency tape and roll down the steps, spring immediately to their feet and keep running. "Get that damn thing out of my face!" Averie says seeing the camera, "Go go go!" Andrew says pushing Averie forward. Ed and Harry are still facing the door and see Mordechai lurk "Sweet Lord..." "of the rings. RUN!!! GO GO GO!" Harry yells, they turn to flee...and run straight into the arms of the cops. "Look, there's a...look. There's a man over there....I saw....where'd he go?" Harry says, the cops grab their collars "Boys come on."

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie is sitting on the bed drawing the symbol, Andrew is sitting at the table researching. "What the hell is this symbol? It's buggin' the hell outta me. This whole damn job's buggin' me. I thought the legend said Mordechai only goes after chicks." she says, "It does." "All right. Well I mean that explains why he went after me, but why you?" "The legend also says he hung himself but did you see those slit wrists?" she nods, he looks away from the computer for a minute "What's up with that? And the axe too. I mean, ghosts are usually pretty strict, right? Following the same patterns over and over?" "But this mook keeps changing."

Andrew clicks something on his computer "Exactly. I'm telling ya, the way the story goes ... wait a minute." Averie looks at him "What?" "Someone added a new post to the Hell Hound site. Listen to this. 'They say Mordechai Murdock was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an axe before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity." Still staring at the symbol she has drawn, Averie suddenly sits straight up. "Where the hell is this going?" he mumbles, "I don't know but I think I might have just figured out where it all started."

~MUSIC SHOP~

Craig is sitting at the counter looking depressed, Averie and Andrew walk in. "Hey Craig? Remember us?" Averie asks, "Guys, look I'm really not in the mood to answer any of your questions okay?" "Oh don't worry. We're just here to buy an album, that's all." she walks over and looks at the albums, and picks one up. She walks over to Andrew, who is at the counter "You know I couldn't figure out what that symbol was and then I realized that it doesn't mean anything. It's the logo for the Blue Oyster Cult." she looks at Craig "Tell me Craig, you, uh, you into BOC? Or just scaring the hell outta people? Now why 'n't you tell us about that house ... without lying through your ass this time."

Craig sighs "All right, um. My cousin Dana was on break from TCU. Ah, I guess we were just bored, looking for something to do. So I showed her this abandoned dump I found. We thought it would be funny if we made it look like it was haunted. So we painted symbols on the walls, some from some albums, some from some of Dana's theology textbooks. Then we found out this guy Murdock used to live there so we ...we made up some story to go along with that. So they told people, who told other people. And then these two guys put it on their stupid website. Everything just took on a life of its own. I mean I, I thought it was funny at first but... now that girl's dead! It was just a joke, you know. I mean, none of it was real, we made the whole thing up. I swear!" Andrew nods "Alright.." they turn to leave, Averie sighs "If none of it was real how the hell do you explain Mordechai?"

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie walks in and smiles when she hears the shower running, she walks over to Andrew's bed with a pack of itching powder. "Hey, I'm back!" she calls out "Where were you?" "Oh I went out." she picks up his underwear from the bed and pours the content of the packet into it. "So I think I might have a theory about what's going on." "Oh yeah?" she asks pouring a little more powder. "What if Mordechai is a Tulpa?" "Tulpa?" Andrew walks out of the bathroom in just a towel "Yeah, a Tibetan thought form." Averie turns to him, hiding the powder packet "Ahh, yeah, I know what a Tulpa is. Hey why don't you get dressed, I wanna go grab something to eat." she walks into the bathroom, Andrew looks at the door as it closes confused.

~DINER~

The server hands Averie two coffees, she walks over to the table. Andrew groans and adjusts his jeans a bit, "Dude what's your problem?" she asks watching him. "Nothing, I'm fine." "Yeah?" "Yeah." she smiles slightly "So, ahhh, all right keep going. What about these Tulpas?" "Ok, so there was this incident in Tibet in 1915. Group of monks visualised a golem in their head. The meditated on it so hard they bought the thing to life. Outta thin air." "So?" "That was 20 monks. Imagine what 10,000 web surfers could do. I mean Craig starts the story about Mordechai, then it spreads, goes online. Now there are countless people all believing in the bastard."

Averie tilts her head "Now wait a second. Are you trying to tell me that just because people believe in Mordechai, he's real?" Andrew looks at her uncomfortably "I dunno, maybe?" "People believe in Santa Claus -- how come I'm not getting hooked up every Christmas?" "Cuz you're a bad person. And because of this..." he turns his laptop, showing her a photo of one of the Hell House symbols.

"That's a Tibetan spirit sigil. On the wall of the house. Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet they painted this, not even knowing what it was. Now that sigil has been used for centuries, concentrating meditative thoughts like a magnifying glass. So people are on the HellHounds website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai ... I mean I don't know, but it might be enough to bring a Tulpa to life." Averie nods "That explains why he keeps changing." Andrew groans and adjusts himself again "Right, as the legend changes, people think different things, so Mordechai himself changes. Like a game of telephone. That would also explain why the rock salt didn't work." "Yeah, he's not a traditional spirit." 

Andrew starts fidgeting ""Exactly." "Ok. So why don't we just...uhh ... get this spirit sigil thingie off the wall and off the website?" "Well it's not that simple. You see, once Tulpas are created they take on a life of their own." "Great. So if he really is a thought form how the hell are we supposed to kill an idea?" he shifts in his seat "Well it's not gonna be easy with these guys helping us. Check out their home page." Andrew shows her footage from the previous night. "Since they've posted the video their number of hits have quadrupled in the last day alone." Averie sighs "I got an idea. Come on."

"Where we goin?" he asks "We gotta find a copy store." they stand up, Andrew sighs "Av, I think I'm allergic to our soap." Averie laughs as she walks away "You did this?" she continues laughing "You fucking Jerk!" 

~TRAILER PARK~

Ed and Harry sit in a trailer with all their equipment. "No, no, no, forget it. Forget it! I'm not going back in there again." Harry says, "Harry. Look at me. Right here. Okay? You are a ghost hunter, okay?" "I know but, Ed, I've never seen a real ghost before Ed, like a real ghost, an apparition!" "This stuff here...this is our ticket to the big time right here. Fame, money, sex. With girls. OK? Be brave. WWBD. What Would Buffy Do. huh?" "What would Buffy do. But Ed, she's stronger than me." "It's okay."

There is a pounding on the door. Harry jumps a foot in the air and squeals. "Who is it?" Ed asks, "Come on out here guys, we hear you in there." Averie says. "It's them!" Harry says scared, they stick their heads out the door. "Ah, would you look at that! Action figures in their original packaging -- what a shock." Averie says annoyed "Guys, we need to talk." Andrew says. Ed looks at them "Yeah, um, sorry guys. We're ahhh, a little bit busy right now." Averie sighs "Ok well we'll make it quick. We need you to shut down your website."

Ed laughs "Man, you know, these guys got us busted last night, spent the night in a holding cell..." Harry looks at her "I had to pee in that cell urinal. In front of people. And I get stage fright." Ed sighs "Why should we trust you guys?" Andrew looks at them "Look guys. We all know what we saw last night, what's in the house. But now thanks to your website there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai." Averie nods "That's right. Which means people are gonna keep showing up at the Hell House, running into him in person, somebody could get hurt."

"Yeah, yeah." Ed says, "Ed maybe she's got a point, maybe...." "No." "No?" "We have an obligation to our fans, to the truth." Ed says turning back to Averie and Andrew. "Well I have an obligation to kick both your little asses right now --" Averie says glaring at them, Andrew holds his hand up "Av--Averie, hey, hey, just, forget it, all right? These guys ... (sigh) probably bitch slap them both, I could probably even tell them that thing about Mordechai ... but they're still not gonna help us. Let's just go." "Yeah, you're right." she says frowning. They start to walk away, Ed and Harry trailing behind.

"What you say about...?" Ed asks, "Hang on a second here." Harry says. "Wait...wait." "What thing about Mordechai you guys?" Averie looks at Andrew "Don't tell 'em." "But if they agree to shut the website down Av." "They're not going to do it, you said so yourself." Ed looks at her "No wait. Wait. Don't listen to him ok? We'll do it. We'll do it." she ignores him "It's a secret Andrew." Andrew turns to Ed and Harry "Look, it is a really big deal all right. And it wasn't easy to dig up. So only if we have your word that you'll shut everything down." "Totally." "Alright.."

Averie hands them some papers "It's a death certificate. From the '30s. We got it at the library. Now according to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound." Andrew nods "That's right he didn't hang or cut himself." "He shot himself?" Ed asks "Yep. With a .45 pistol. To this day they say he's terrified of them." Averie cuts in "Matter of fact they say if you shoot him with a .45, loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds -- it'll kill the son of a bitch." Ed and Harry snicker gleefully. Harry spins and bolts back toward the trailer, Ed follows more slowly. "Harry. Slow your roll buddy. They're gonna know we're excited."

~CAFE~

Andrew and Averie sit in a booth, Andrew looking at his laptop. Averie reaches up to the 3D artwork of a fisherman holding a big fish and pulls the cord. The fisherman's mouth moves up and down and an extremely annoying laugh plays "If you pull that string one more time I'm gonna kill you." he says pulling the string to stop it. Averie, deadpan, stares at him while pulling the cord again. He immediately stops it, glaring at her, she bursts out laughing "Come on man, you need more laughter in your life. You know you're way too tense." he gives her another dirty look. She sighs "They post it yet?"

Andrew moves the laptop around so Averie can see it and stabs at his salad angrily. "We've learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdock has a fatal fear of firearms. All right. How long do we wait?" "Long enough for the new story to spread, and the legend to change. I figure by nightfall iron rounds will work on the sucker." he holds his beer out to Averie, who lifts her own and taps it. She takes a drink of hers and he starts grinning, she goes to put the bottle down, but it's stuck to her hand. Andrew starts chuckling as Averie looks at it confused. She looks up "You didn't." he laughs and holds up super glue "I did." Averie shakes her hand while Andrew, laughing, pulls the string to set the fisherman laughing again.

~HELL HOUSE. NIGHT~

The two cops are searching the surrounds with their flashlights "I'm telling ya, I heard something. Coming from over there." The noise of the fisherman laughing can be heard. "See? See? There it is again." "What is tha..." they find the fisherman in a tree laughing.

Averie and then Andrew enter the house on alert, guns drawn, and begin a methodical search, staying back to back. Averie readjusts her gun hand "I barely have any skin left on my palm." Andrew shakes his head "That sounds very dirty.." Averie shines her flashlight in Andrew's face until he winces, then moves into the other room. He follows "So you think old Mordechai's home?" "I don't know." "Me either." Ed says from behind them.

They spin, pointing their guns at Ed and Harry "Whoa! Whoa!" Andrew sighs "What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?" "We're just trying to get a book and movie deal, ok?" Ed says. From the basement comes the sound of knives being sharpened. Andrew and Averie are immediately back on alert. "Oh crap.." Ed says, him and Harry crowd in close behind Andrew and Averie with their camera.

"Ah guys, you wanna ... you wanna open that door for us?" Ed asks, Averie glares at him "Why don't you?" Mordechai bursts through the door holding an axe and screaming. They empty their gun chambers. He holds on, then wavers and disappears into mist. Andrew and Averie wait a beat, then take off to ensure the other rooms are clear. "Oh God. He's gone. He's gone." Ed says, "Did you get him?" Harry asks him "Yeah they got him." "No, on camera, did you get him on camera." "Ah, ah, I ..." "Let me see it, let me see it."

Harry takes the camera and flips it open. Mordechai appears, slams his axe through the camera, forcing him to the ground and disappears again. Averie runs in "Hey! Didn't you guys post that B.S. story we gave you?" "Of course we did." Ed says, Andrew appears in the other door, gun at the ready. "But then our server crashed.." "So it didn't take?" Averie asks "Uh, Umm.." "So these, these guns don't work." "Yeah.." "Great. Andrew, any ideas?" he shakes his head.

Harry looks around "We are getting outta here." "Yeah, come on." Ed says grabbing Harry. They run past Averie to the other room, where Mordechai appears again. Screaming, they run to the front door but it is locked. Mordechai follows them. "Jesus Mary and Joseph.." Harry says, Ed looks at Mordechai "The power of Christ compels you, the power of Christ compels you. THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!!" Andrew walks in "HEY! Come and get it you ugly son of a bitch."

They fight until Mordechai pins Andrew against the wall, axe across his throat. "Get out of here, now!" Ed and Harry run out the now unlocked door, Averie is in the other room splashing kerosene everywhere. Mordechai lifts him off his feet with the pressure of the axe at his throat "Av!" he yells. Averie runs in "Hey!" she holds up a spray bottle and lights the gas, a plume of fire appears. "Go Andrew! GO! GO!" Andrew runs past her, Averie follows, pulling him as he stops and leans over, holding his throat. "Mordechai can't leave the house, we can't kill him -- We improvise." 

Averie holds up her lighter, flicks it, and throws it back into the room. It bursts into flame and they run outside, "That's your solution? Burn the whole damn place to the ground?" he asks, "Well nobody will go in anymore. I mean look, Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt. It's fast and dirty but it works." "Well what if the legend changes again and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?" "Well -- well then we'll just have to come back." They watch the house burn, he turns to her "Kinda makes you wonder. Of all the thing we hunted, how many existed just cuz people believed in them."

~TRAILER PARK. DAY~

Andrew and Averie are hanging out by a picnic table at the trailer park. Ed and Harry approach carrying grocery bags, "I was thinking that Mordechai has a really super high attack bonus." Harry says, "Man I got the munchies right now." Ed says, he looks at Averie and Andrew "Hey." "Should we tell 'em?" Harry asks Ed. "might as well, you know, they're going to read about it in the trades." Harry looks at them "So this morning we got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer." Averie smiles "Oh yeah, wrong number?" Ed glares at her "No, smart-ass. He read all about the Hell House on our website and wants to option the motion picture rights. Maybe even have us write it."

They place their grocery bags into a totally overloaded car. "And create the RPG." She tilts her head "The what?" "Role playing game." Ed says " _Right_." "A little lingo for you. Anyhoo, ahhh, excuse us, we're off to la-la land." Andrew smiles "Well congratulations guys. That sounds really great." Averie nods "Yeah. That's awesome, best of luck to you." "Oh yeah, luck. That has nothing to do with it. It's about talent. Sheer unabashed talent." Ed says looking at Harry, "Later." they get in the car and drive off.

"Wow.." Averie says annoyed "I have a confession to make." Andrew says smiling "What's that." "I, uh...I was the one that called them and told them I was a producer." She laughs "Yeah well I'm the one who put the dead fish in their back seat." he laughs and shakes his head. "Truce?" "Yeah truce. At least for the next 100 miles." she says, they get in the Impala and drive off.


	19. Something Wicked

~SURBURBAN HOUSE. FITCHBURG, WISCONSIN.~

A little girl kneels by her bed "Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep, may angels watch me through the night and keep me safe til morning light. Amen." her Dad helps her into bed "Amen. Night Sweetie." "Daddy, is Mommy coming home?" "No honey, she's spending the night at the hospital with your sister. You sleep tight now." Outside a tree branch scratches against the window. The girl sits up in bed, afraid. She gathers her courage, races to the window and pulls the curtain across, then hides back under the covers. The scratching tree branch turns into a long spindly fingered hand and the window is slowly pulled open. 

A shadow approaches the bed. The girl is wide-eyed and terrified under the covers. The hand is placed on her shoulder -- she is turned and sees someone in a hood, only their mouth and chin visible. The skin is deeply wrinkled, the mouth opens, and a bright light is emitted. The little girl begins to scream.

~IMPALA. MORNING~

Averie looks over at Andrew "Yeah. You probably missed something, that's what." he sighs "Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers, I couldn't find a single red flag. Are you sure you got the coordinates right?" "Yeah, I double checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important Andy." he tenses up getting frustrated. "Well I'm telling you I looked and all I could find was a big steamy pile of nothing. If Dad's sending us hunting for something I don't know what." she shrugs "Well maybe he's going to meet us there."

He rolls his eyes "Yeah. Cause he's been so easy to find up to this point." she sighs "You're a real smart ass you know that?.... Don't worry I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing." "Yeah? What makes you so sure." she smiles "Cause I'm the oldest, which means I'm always right." "No it doesn't." "It definitely does!" Averie glances at Andrew then looks back at the road with a little grin. The impala cruises past the sign for **Fitchburg** , **population** **20,501**.

~FITCHBURG MAIN STREET.~

Andrew leans against the Impala staring ahead. Averie crosses to the road to him, holding two coffees. "Well...the waitress thinks the local freemasons are up to something sneaky but other than that no one's heard about anything freaky going on." she says handing him a coffee. "You got the time?" she looks at her watch "Ten after Four. Why?" he points ahead "What's wrong with that picture?" Andrew has been watching a playground. It is deserted, only one child climbing around. "School's out, ain't it?" Averie asks "Yeah. So where is everybody? This place should be crawling with kids right now." 

A woman sits on a park bench reading a magazine. Averie approaches her "Sure is quiet out here." the woman nods and looks at her "Yeah, it's a shame." "Why's that?" "You know, kids getting sick, it's a terrible thing." Averie looks shocked "How many?" "Just five or six but serious, hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching." they both look at the little girl playing by herself. 

~DANE COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL~

Andrew and Averie enter and approach the reception desk. "Dude. Dude I am _not_ using this ID." he whispers to her "Why not?" "Cause it says bikini inspector on it!" she grins "Don't worry she won't look that close all right? Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence Andy." She spins Andrew to face the desk and keeps walking. The receptionist looks up "Hi. I'm Doctor Jerry Caplin, Centers for Disease Control." he says, "Can I see some ID?" farther down the hall, Averie snickers, "Yeah,of course." he says shooting Averie a dirty look. He quickly flashes the badge holding his thumb over part of it "Now could you direct me to the pediatrics ward please?" "Okay well, just go down that hall, turn left and up the stairs." 

Andrew approaches a grinning Averie, giving a major bitchface. "See. I told you it would work." she says, he glares at her "Follow me. It's upstairs." Andrew and Averie walk down the corridor. Andrew looks into a room they pass. An old woman sitting in a wheelchair slowly turns her head to look at him. An inverted cross hangs on her wall "Averie!" he says, Averie looks at Andrew, then looks at the inverted cross.

They walk into a hallway with a doctor "Well, thanks for seeing us, Dr. Hydecker." Averie says, "Well I'm glad you guys are here. I was just about to call CDC myself. How'd you find out anyways?" "Oh some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch." Andrew looks at him "So you say you got six cases so far?" "Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacterial pneumonia. Not that newsworthy. But now..." "Now what?" "The kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems just aren't doing their job. It's like their bodies are ... wearing out."

A nurse hands him a few papers, "You ever see anything like this before?" Andrew asks, Averie listens looking kind of scared. "Never this severe. And the way it spreads...that's a new one for me." "What do you mean?" The nurse sighs "It works its way through families. But only the children, one sibling after another." Averie clears her throat "Mind if we interview a few of the kids?" "They're not conscious." "None of them?" "No.." Averie looks around fearfully "Can we, uh, can we talk to the parents?" "Well, if you think it'll help." "Yeah. Who was your most recent admission?"

~WAITING ROOM~

A man sits on a chair against the wall, Andrew and Averie stand in front of him. "I should get back to my girls." he says frowning, "We understand that, and we really appreciate you talking to us. Now you say Mary is the oldest?" Andrew asks, he nods "Thirteen.." "Ok. And she came down with it first, right? And then..." "Bethany, the next night." "Within 24 hours?" "I guess. Look, I, uh, I already went through all this with the doctor." Andrew sighs, Averie looks at him shaking slightly "Just a few more questions if you don't mind. How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold, anything like that?" the man shakes his head "No. We think it was an open window." "Both times?" "The first time, I, I don't really remember but the second time for sure. And I know I closed it before I put Bethany to bed." Andrew looks at him sadly "You think she opened it?" "It's a second story window with a ledge. No one else could've."

Andrew and Averie walk down a hallway "You know this might not be anything supernatural. It might just be pneumonia." he says, she looks at him "Maybe. Or maybe something opened that window. I don't know man, look, Dad sent us down down here for a reason. I think we might be barking up the right tree." "I'll tell you one thing." "What?" "That guy we just talked to? I'm betting it'll be a while before he goes home."

~BETHANY'S BEDROOM~

Andrew and Averie check the room with EMF. "You got anything over there?" he asks, "Nah, nothing." "Yeah, me neither." They keep looking around, Andrew walks over to the window "Hey Av?" "Yeah?" "You were right..It's not pneumonia." Averie walks over and they stare at a handprint rotted into the wood. "It's rotted. What the hell leaves a handprint like that?" he asks her.

_Averie, 10, is staring at a photo of the same handprint. Ethan comes out of the bedroom loading a sawn off shotgun. "All right. You know the drill, Averie. Anybody calls, you don't pick up. If it's me, I'll ring once, then call back. You got that?" she nods "Mm-hmm, Don't answer the phone unless it rings once." "Come on kiddo, look alive, this is important!" he says. She looks up at him "I know, it's just...we've gone over this like a million times, I'm not stupid." "I know you're not, but it only takes one mistake, you got that?"_

_Ethan continues gathering his stuff "And if I'm not back by Sunday night?" Averie sighs "Call Pastor Jim or John." he nods "Lock the doors, windows, close the shades. Most importantly-" "Watch after Andy." They both look over at Andrew, 4, who is laying on the couch watching cartoons. "I know Dad." "And what if something tries to bust in?" "Shoot first, ask questions later." she says, he hugs her "That's my girl."_

Averie stands at the window looking sick "I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job." Andrew looks at her confused.

~MOTEL. NIGHT~

Averie parks the Impala, they get out. "So what the hell is a shtriga?" Andrew asks, "It's ... kinda like a witch I think. I don't know much about 'em." she says frowning. "Well I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal." "Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about 16, 17 years ago. You were there. You don't remember?" "No.." "And I guess he caught wind of the things in Fitzburg now and kicked us the coordinates." she says sighing, he looks at her "So this.." "Shtriga." "Right. You think it's the same one Dad hunted before?" "Yeah, maybe."

Andrew tilts his head "But if Dad went after it why is it still breathing air?" Averie looks away from him "Because, it...got away." "Got away?" he asks surprised, she looks at him starting to get frustrated "Yes, it got away! That happens Andy!" "Not very often.." "Well I don't know what to tell ya, maybe Dad didn't have his wheaties that morning." "What else do you remember?" Averie frowns and defensively says "Nothin'. I was a kid all right?" 

They enter the motel reception and rings the bell. A boy of around 10-12, Michael, comes from the back room where a younger boy, Asher, sits watching TV "A king or two queens?" she glances at Andrew "Two queens." Michael looks at Andrew too and mutters "Yeah, I bet.." Averie looks at him "What?" he looks at her "Nice car." Michael's mother walks over "Hi." Averie smiles "Hi." "Checking in?" "Yeah." she turns to Michael "Ahh, do me a favor, go get your brother some dinner." "But I'm helping a guest." 

She gives him a look, he sighs "She wants two _queens_." The mother looks at Averie "Funny kid." Averie says, "Yeah, he thinks so." "You take MasterCard?" She nods. "Mm-hmm." "Perfect. Here you go." Averie looks through the door as Michael pours a drink for Asher.

_Andrew sits at the table, Averie sets a glass of milk in front of him "Avie, when's Dad coming back?" she grabs a pot from the stove "Tomorrow." "When?" she pours some spaghetti-ohs into a bowl and pushes to him. "I dunno, He usually comes back late. Now eat your dinner." he scrunches his nose "I'm sick of scabetti-ohs." "Well, you're the one who wanted them." "I want Lucky Charms." Averie sighs "There's no more Lucky Charms." Andrew looks at her "I saw the box." she frowns "Okay, maybe there is, but there's only enough left for one bowl and I haven't had any yet."_

_Andrew gives him a puppy dog eyes look. Averie sighs and grabs the box of Lucky Charms, she hands it to him. She sits across from him and eats the spaghetti-ohs, he reaches into the box and pulls out the toy, he hands it to her "D'you want the prize?"_

Michael's Mother holds Averie's credit card out "Ma'am?" she reaches for the card "T-Thank you.."

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew sits on his bed, "Well, you were right. Heh. It wasn't very easy to find but you were right. Shtriga is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them trace back to Ancient Rome. They feed off _spiritus vitae_." Averie looks over at him "Spiri-what?" "Vitae. It's Latin, translates to 'breath of life'. Kinda like your life force or essence." "Didn't the doctor say the kids' bodies were wearing out?" "It's a thought. you know she takes your vitality maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtrigas can feed off anyone but they prefer..." "Children." Averie says whincing.

"Yeah. Probably because they have stronger life force. And get this. Shtrigas are '...invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man.'" Andrew says "No, that's not right. She's vulnerable when she feeds." he turns to her "What?" "If you catch her when she's eating you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Ahhh... buckshots or rounds I think." "How do you know that." she tenses up "Dad told me. I remember." he stares at her. "What?" "Nothing. Okay. So, assuming we can kill it when it eats we still gotta find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Shtrigas take on a human disguise when they're not hunting."

"What kinda human disguise?" Averie asks "Historically, something innocuous. Could be anything, but it's usually a feeble old woman, which might be how the witches as old crones legend got started." he says, she crosses the room. "Hang on." "What?" she grabs a map "Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far, and dead center?" "The hospital." "The hospital. Now when we were there you saw a patient, an old woman." "An old person huh?" "Yeah." Andrew looks at her "In a hospital? Phew. (shaking his head and sneering) Better call the Coast Guard." "Well listen, smart-ass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall."

~HOSPITAL. NIGHT~

Andrew and Averie come down a hallway, quickly ducking back when they see Dr Hydecker. "Good night Dr Hydecker." Nurse Betty says "See you tomorrow Betty." "Try to get some sleep." They hide until Hydecker passes, then continue on to the old woman's room. They open the door and sneak in, Averie taking the front, Andrew hanging back, guns drawn. The woman is in her wheelchair facing toward the corner. She seems to be sleeping, Averie looks at her. The woman suddenly wakes up "Who the hell are you?!" 

Averie freaks, leaping back against a wall cabinet, pulling her gun up. "Who's there? You trying to steal my stuff? They're always stealing around here." Andrew turns on the light. The woman has cataracts "No! Ah, ma'am, we're maintenance. We're sorry. We thought you were sleeping." he says "Ahhh, nonsense. I was sleeping with my peepers open." She laughs, then gestures at the wall. "And fix that crucifix, would ya? I've asked four damn times already!" Averie, still scared, walks over and fixes the cross.

~MOTEL.~

Michael and Asher are fast asleep in bed, the Shtriga's arm reaches at opens the window.

~MOTEL. MORNING~

The Impala pulls up to the motel parking lot, Andrew and Averie get out. ""I was sleeping with my peepers open?"" he laughs, Averie glares at him "I almost smoked that old girl, I swear. It's not funny!" "Oh man, you shoulda seen your face." "Yeah, laugh it off. Now we're back to square one." She sees Michael sadly sitting behind the desk, she walks over. "Hey what's wrong?" he looks up at her "My brother's sick.." "The little guy?" 

"Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault." she frowns "Ah c'mon, how?" "I shoulda made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't've got pneumonia if the window was latched." she looks away sadly, then looks back at Michael "Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault. Okay?" He tears up "It's my job to look after him." the mother runs out of the motel to her car, "Michael, I want you to turn on the no vacancy sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service so don't bother with any of the rooms." "I'm going with you." he stands up.

"Not now, Michael." "But I gotta see Asher!" Averie looks at him "Hey Michael. Hey. I know how you feel -- I'm a big brother too -- but you gotta go easy on your Mom right now, ok?" She drops the bag in haste "Damnit!" Andrew walks over to her and helps her "Here." "Thank you." Averie looks over at them "Ma'am, you're in no condition to drive -- why don't you let me give you a lift to the hospital." "No, I couldn't possibly..." "No, it's no trouble. I insist." she hands Averie her car keys. "Thanks." she looks over at Michael "Be good." Averie helps her get in and turns to Andrew "We're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me?"

~LIBRARY~

Andrew sits at a microfiche machine. He picks up his phone and calls Averie "Hey." "Hey. How's the kid?" he asks, "He's not good. Where you at?" "I'm at the library. I've been trying to find out as much as I can about this Shtriga." "Yeah, what have you got?" "Well, bad news. I started with Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there?" he sighs "Yeah?" "Same deal. Before that, there was, uh, Ogdenville, before that North Haverbrook, and Brockway. Every 15 to 20 years it hits a new town. Dean, this thing is just getting started in Fitzburgh. In all these other places it goes on for months. Dozens of kids before the shtriga finally moves on. The kids just ... languish in comas and then they die."

Andrew hears her sigh "How far back's this thing go?" "Ah, I don't know. The earliest mention I could find is this place called "Black River Falls" back in the 1890s. Talk about a horror show.... Whoa." "Andrew?" "Hold on.... I'm looking at a photograph right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid's bed. One of the Doctors is Hydecker." "And?" "And this picture was taken in 1893." "You sure?" "Yeah. Yeah absolutely."

Averie hangs up, and turns to watch Hydecker sitting on Asher's bed. "Don't worry. Your son's in good hands. I'm going to take care of him." he moves toward Averie standing in the doorway. She looks ready to slit his throat "So what's the CDC come up with so far?" "Well, we're still working on a few theories. You'll know something as soon as we do." "Well, nothing's more important to me than these kids. Just let me know if I can help." "I'll do that." she growls.

~MOTEL ROOM~

"We should have thought of this before. A doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the whole thing." Andrew says, Averie throws her jacket on the bed and kicks the table "Son of a bitch!" he looks at her "I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there.." "Yeah well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a freakin' pediatrics ward." "Good Call." "Second, wouldn't have done any good, because the bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something. And third, I wasn't packing, which is probably a really good thing cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him on principle alone."

Andrew smiles "You're getting wise in your old age Av." "Damn right. Cause now I know how we're going to get it." "What do you mean?" "Shtriga, works through siblings right?" "Right..?" Averie looks at him "Well last night...." "It went after Asher.." "So I'm thinking tonight it's probably gonna come after Michael." "Well we gotta get him outta here." "No. No, that would blow the whole deal." "What?" "Yeah." Andrew looks at her angrily "You wanna use the kid as bait? Are you nuts? No! Forget it. That's out of the question." she looks at him "It's not out of the question Sam it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance."

He frowns "Michael's a kid. And I'm not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook." Averie looks at him "Dad did not send me here to walk away." "Send YOU here? He didn't send you here -- he sent us here." she tears up "This isn't about you, Andrew. I'm the one who screwed up, all right. It's my fault. There's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me." "What are you saying, Averie? How is it your fault?" there's a long moment of silence. "Av. You've been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away? Now talk to me, man. Tell me what's going on." "Fort Douglas, Wisconsin. It was our third night in this crap room and I was climbing the walls. Man, I needed to get some air."

_Averie sits on the couch watching TV, she turns it off and goes to the front door, looking back at Andrew asleep in the other room before she leaves, locking the door behind her. She plays arcade games in reception until the owner tells him they're closing for the night "Kid, we're closin." he says walking over._

_Returning to the room she sees a strange light coming from Andrew's room. She moves closer and sees the shtriga leaning over him. Averie reaches for the rifle by the door but the shtriga hears her cock it and rears up, hissing. She hesitates, terrified. As she does Ethan bursts through the front door, gun raised. "Get out of the way!" he yells, Averie ducks and Ethan shoots the shtriga multiple times with his hand gun. The shtriga jumps through the bedroom window, glass shattering. He rushes to Andrew's bed and pulls him close, cradling him. "Andrew? Andy?" he asks_  
  
_Andrew opens his eyes, confused, "Dad? What's happening?" "You alright?" he nods, Ethan holds him close and glares at Averie. "What happened!" Averie starts stuttering "I-I just went out.." "What!?" he yells at her, she frowns "Just for a second, I'm sorry." she starts crying "I told you not to leave this room! I told you not to let him out of your sight!"_  
  
Averie looks up at Andrew from the bed "Dad just ... grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at the motel that the Winchesters were about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. It never surfaced until now. You know, Dad never spoke about it again, I didn't ask. But he...ah...he looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn't listen, I almost got you killed." Andrew looks at her "You were just a kid." "Don't. Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it." "But using Michael -- I don't know Averie. I mean, how 'bout one of us hides under the covers, you know, we'll be the bait." "No, it won't work. It's gotta get close enough to feed -- it'll see us. Believe me, I don't like it, but it's gotta be the kid."  
  
~MOTEL RECEPTION.~  
  
Michael picks up the phone "You're crazy! Just go away or I'm calling the cops." Averie looks at him "Hang on a second. Just listen to me. You have to believe me, ok? This thing came through the window and it attacked your brother. I've seen it. I know what it looks like. Cause it attacked my brother once too." he puts the phone down "This thing...is it...like....it has this long...black robe?" her look softens "You saw it last night, didn't you?" "I thought I was having a nightmare."

She frowns "I'd give anything not to tell you this, but sometimes nightmares are real." he looks at her "So, why are you telling me?" "Because we need your help." "My help?" she nods "We can kill it. Me and him, that's what we do. But we can't do it without you." "What? No!" "Michael, listen to me. This thing hurt Asher. And it's gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it, understand me?" he stares at Averie horrified.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie sits on her bed "Well that went crappy. Now what?" Andrew looks at her "What did you expect? You can't ask a adult to do something like that, much less a kid." there's a knock on the door, she opens it and Michael is standing there. "If you kill it, will Asher get better?" he asks, "Honestly? We don't know." "You said you were a big sister?" "Yeah." "You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him?" she nods "Me too. I'll help."

~MICHAEL'S ROOM.~

Averie completes hooking up a security camera in the corner of the room, staring into the lens. Michael is behind him in bed. Andrew is watching the security feed in the other room. "This camera has night vision on it so we'll be able to see clear as day." she says, Michael nods, "Are we good?" she yells so Andrew can hear her. "A hair to the right." she moves the camera slightly "There!" Michael looks at Averie "What do I do?" "Just stay under the covers." "And if it shows up?" she smiles "We'll be right in the next room. We're gonna come in with guns. So, as soon as we do you roll off this bed and you crawl under it." "What if you shoot me?" 

"We won't shoot you. We're good shots. We're not going to fire until you're clear ok?" he nods "Have you heard a gunshot before?" "like in the movies?" "It's gonna be a lot louder than in the movies. So I want you to stay under the bed, cover your ears, _do not_ come out until we say so. You understand?" Michael nods, looking scared, "Michael, you sure you wanna do this? You don't have to, it's ok, I won't be mad." "No I'm ok. Just don't shoot me." "We're not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew and Averie sit watching the security camera feed. "What time is it?" she asks, he looks at the clock "Three. You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?" she nods "Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah it's what Dad used last time." "Hey, Av, I'm sorry.." "For what?" "You know, I've really given you a lot of crap, for always following Dad's orders. But I know why you do it." she looks away "Oh god kill me now.." Andrew laughs softly, they sit in silence for a long moment.

There is movement outside the window. It slides open. Andrew and Averie pick up their guns. The shtriga is inside Michael's room. "Now?" he asks, "Not yet." The shtriga moves closer and leans over the bed, Michael is terrified but frozen, unable to move. The shtriga leans closer and opens his mouth, starting to draw Michael's energy. They burst in "Hey!" Averie looks over "Michael, down!" he rolls off and under the bed and Andrew and Averie open fire, shooting the shtriga multiple times each. It falls to the ground, "Michael, you alright?" "Yeah!" "Just sit tight." 

Averie approaches the shtriga, gun at the ready. There is no movement. She relaxes slightly and glances at Andrew. The shtriga suddenly rises, grabs her by the throat and throws her against the wall. "Averie!" Andrew yells. The shtriga moves and throws Andrew to the wall; he hits the ground, and the shtriga climbs on him and forces his mouth open. He struggles to reach his gun. The shtriga begins drawing his energy and Andrew stills and starts going grey "Hey!" The shtriga looks up and Averie shoots it between the eyes. He falls backwards and Andrew lies gasping for breath. "Andy, oh my god..Are you okay?"

He nods and unsteadily holds up two thumbs-up. They both pull themselves to their feet and look to the shtriga. The energy the shtriga stole begins to escape from its mouth. Averie raises her gun, shooting it three more times at point blank range. More energy escapes. The shtriga falls in on itself, disintegrating. Michael peaks out from under the bed "It's ok, Michael, you can come on out." she says. He comes to stand beside them, smiling tentatively. Averie places her hand on his shoulder and smiles.

~OUTSIDE MOTEL. MORNING~

Averie and Andrew are packing the Impala ready to head out. Michael's Mom comes out of the back of reception "Hey, Joanna. How's Asher doing?" Averie asks, "He's good, Have you seen Michael?" he runs over to her "Mom, Mom!" "Hey!" she hugs him. "How's Ash?" "Got some good news. Your brother's gonna fine." "Really?" "Yeah. Really. No one can explain it -- it's a miracle. They're going to keep him in overnight for observation and then he's coming home."

Averie and Andrew smile, "How are all the other kids doing?" Andrew asks, "Good. Real good. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's going to be like a ghost town." "Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Hydecker?" Joanna shrugs "Oh he wasn't in today. Must have been sick or something." Averie nods "Must've been." Joanna turns to Michael "So, did anything happen while I was gone?" "Nah, same old stuff.." "Ok. You can go see Ash." he smiles "Now?"

"Only if you want to." Joanna says smiling, Michael runs to the car, "I, ah, I'd better get going before he hotwires the car and drives himself." she waves goodbye to Averie and Andrew. "It's too bad." Andrew says as they walk to the Impala "Oh, they'll be fine." "That's not what I meant. I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark -- he'll never be the same, you know? Sometimes I wish that...." She looks at him "What?" "I wish I could have that kinda innocence." they watch Joanna drive away. Averie frowns "If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could too." They exchange a look. Averie climbs in the car and starts the engine. Andrew gets in and they pull out of the motel car park and back onto the freeway.


	20. Provenance

~NEW PALTZ. NEW YORK. NIGHT~

A young drunk couple dressed in formal attire are staring at a family painting giggling, "I can't believe we actually bought this thing." Ann says, Mark stands next to her "There's a reason charity auctions have an open bar." They stare at it for a moment, "Don't you think...I don't know, it's kinda creepy?" she asks as he fiddles with her dress zipper. "Its okay, I'll keep you safe." "Maybe _you're_ the one I oughta be scared of?" they kiss, she smiles "Let's go upstairs." he looks at her "Give me two minutes to lock up." She kisses him "Okay, One minute." 

He pinches her behind, she squeals and runs upstairs. The eyes of the father in the painting follow her, then his head turns to watch the man lock up. Mark looks around as if he hears a noise, then continues to key the security code in. Something starts moving up the stairs, Ann smiles "If you don't hurry up I'm gonna start without you!" A shadow appears in the bedroom doorway, she smiles. A gust of wind blows out her bedside candle.

Mark moves up the stairs undoing his pants "Babe, get the lights. I can't see a thing." He throws his shirt aside and kneels on the bed. There is a squishing noise "You spill something?" He leans to turn on the bedside lamp. His hand is dripping with blood. "Ann?" She is lying on the bed covered in blood, eyes open and staring. "Ann! Ann?" He falls backwards onto the floor, freaking out. A shadow appears over him. He turns to look and begins screaming.

~BAR~

Averie and a young woman lean close together at the bar "7420." she says, Averie types the numbers into the phone "All right, you're in there. Perfect. So is that Brandy with a 'y' or an 'i'?" Andrew sits at a table strewn with papers. He gestures to Averie, who gives him a 'wait' gesture as she laughs at something the woman whispers. He gestures again and Averie's smile drops. "All right, listen, I gotta go. Hold that thought, I'll be right back, okay?" 

She walks over to Andrew holding two beers, "All right, I think we got something." he says, she glances back at the bar "Oh yeah, me too. I think we need to take a little shore leave, just a little bit. What do you think, huh? I'm so in the door with this one." he rolls his eyes "So what are we today Averie? I mean, are we _rock_ _stars_ , are we _army_ _rangers_?" She smiles "Reality TV scouts, looking for people with special skills. I mean hey, it's not that far off right? By the way, she's got a friend over there. Possibly hook you up. What do you think?" "No, I can get my own dates."

"Yeah you can but you don't." Averie says sitting down, "What is that supposed to mean?" "Nothing. What you got?" "Mark and Ann Telesca of New Paltz, New York were both found dead in their own home, a few days ago. Throats were slit. There were no prints, no murder weapons, all..." Averie zones out while looking at Brandy. "Averie! No prints, no murder weapons, all doors and window locked from the inside." she takes a sip of her beer "Could just be a garden variety murder you know, not our department."

Andrew shakes his head "No. Dad says different." "What do you mean?" he pulls out a small map. "Dad noted three murders in the same area of upstate New York. First one here in 1912, second one right here in 1945, and the third in 1970, the same M.O. as the Telescas. Their throats were slit, doors were locked from the inside. Now so much time had passed between murders that nobody checked the pattern, except Dad. He kept his eyes peeled for another one." "And now we got one. All right, I'm with ya. It's worth checking out. We can't pick this up til first thing though right?" she asks, he sighs "Sure." "Good." Averie says heading back to the bar "Averie.."

"Ladies, you miss me?" Brandy looks at her smiling "Well, yeah." "I'm just kidding. Listen, I talked to my producer, and it is looking good." "Great." Andrew looks over and snickers.

~IMPALA. MORNING~

Averie sleeps slouched in the passenger seat of the Impala, sunglasses on. Andrew walks around the car, leans in and honks the horn. She jumps, he sits in the drivers seat, laughing. She adjusts her sunglasses, yawning, "Man, that is so not cool." "I just swept the Telescas with EMF. It's clean. And last night, while you were....well...out..." she smirks "Good times." "I checked the history of the house. Nothing strange about the Telescas." "All right, so if it's not the people and it's not the house, then maybe it's the contents. Cursed object or something." "The house is clean." he says, she rolls her eyes "Yeah I know, you said that." "No, I mean it's empty. No furniture, nothing." "Where's all their stuff?"

~AUCTION HOUSE.~

Andrew and Averie wander around, looking out of place in their casual, rough clothing. Averie takes food from a tray. One man especially watches them pass then excuses himself from his companion and moves toward them "Consignment auctions, estate sales. Looks like a garage sale for Wasps if you ask me." she whispers to Andrew as she takes more food from a tray on the table. "How may I help you?" he asks them, Averie looks at him "I'd like some champagne please." Andrew leans close to her and growls "He's not a waiter Av." she cocks and eyebrow.

Andrew holds his hand out to the man "I'm Andrew Connors." he stares at him, not moving, Andrew sighs and points at Averie "That's my sister Averie. We're art dealers, with Connors Limited." "You. Are...art dealers?" "That's right." "I'm Daniel Blake, this is my auction house. Now this is a private showing, and I don't remember seeing you on the guest list." Averie smiles "We're there chuckles, you just need to take another look." Andrew glares at her. A waitress passes by with Champaign, Averie takes a glass. She turns back to Blake, sniffs the glass, raises her eyebrows then turns and walks away. Andrew hastily follows, shooting her dirty looks. 

They check out the items for auction and are drawn to the painting of the family. "I fine example of American Primitive wouldn't you say?" a woman asks from behind them. They turn to see a sleek, classy, extremely good looking young woman in a black dress coming down a spiral staircase. They both stare at her as she turns her back while taking the final part of the stairs. Sam turns back to look at the painting again and Averie, stares, taps Andrew on the back and continues staring. 

"Well I'd say it's more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses. But you knew that, you just wanted to see if I did." Andrew says, "Guilty. And clumsy. I apologize. I'm Sarah Blake." Sarah says smiling "I'm Andrew. This is my....sister, Averie." Averie continues taking food from passing trays. Sarah chuckles "Can we get you some more mini-quiche?" she shakes her head "I'm good..Thanks." 

Sarah looks at Andrew "So, can I help you with something?" "Yeah, actually. What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?" "The whole thing's pretty grisly if you ask me, selling your things this soon. But Dad's right about one thing, sensationalism brings out the crowds. Even the rich ones." he nods "Is it possible to see the provenances?" "I'm afraid there isn't any chance of that." Blake says coming behind them. "Why not?" "You're not on the guest list. And I think it's time to leave." Averie looks at him "Well we don't have to be told twice." "Apparently you do." Andrew looks slightly panicked "Okay. It's all right. We don't want any trouble. We'll go." he puts his hand on Averie's back and they walk away. Sarah looks at her father "Dad, that was rude."

~MOTEL~

They approach the motel room door, "Grant Wood, Grandma Moses?" Averie asks confused, "Art history course. It's good for meeting girls." she unlocks the door and smiles "It's like I don't even know you." They enter the room and look, the do not disturb door hanger is a silver outline of John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. Disco music accompanies the totally over the top retro 70s disco fantasy room. They look from one side of the room to the other and pause "Huh." they both say.

They dump their bags on the bed "What was...providence?" he rolls his eyes "Prov-e-nance. It's a certificate of origin, like a biography. You know we can use them to check the history of the pieces, see if any of them have a freaky past." she shakes her head "Huh. Well, we're not getting anything out of chuckles, but Sarah..." she snaps her fingers and looks at him smiling. "Yeah, maybe you can get her to write it all down on a cocktail napkin." Andrew says, Averie laughs "Not me." "No no no, pick ups are your thing." she shakes her head "It wasn't my ass she was checking out." Andrew's face flushes red "In other words, you want me to use her to get information." "Sometimes you gotta take one for the team. _Call her_."

~UPMARKET RESTAURANT.~

Andrew and Sarah sit at a table, "Nice place." he says looking around, she smiles "Yeah." there's a long awkward pause. "Glad you called. Surprised, but glad." he looks shocked "Yeah?" "Although you seemed to have a hard time getting out the words "Would you like to have dinner"." "Ahh...yeah. I haven't really been on a date in a while." she looks at him "Well, welcome to the club." Andrew looks surprised "You're kidding me." the waiter hands them a small booklet "Here we are. The wine list." Andrew looks uncomfortable flipping through the pages. Sarah smiles "I don't know about Romeo here but I'll have a beer." he looks up at the waiter "Same here."

-few minutes later-

"So you studied art in school huh?" Andrew asks, Sarah nods "It's true. I was an artist. A terrible terrible artist. And that's why I'm in the auction business. And you were pre-law?" "Yeah.." "But you didn't go to law school. How come?" he looks at her "Ahh, that's a really really long story for another time." "You're not like any art dealer I've ever met." they stare at each other. He tilts his head "So, what did you mean when you said you haven't been on a date in a while. Trying to make me feel like I'm not such a loser?" "I'm sure you're many things. I'm also sure loser isn't one of them." he blushes, there's a moment of silence. 

Sarah looks at the table "It was my Mom. She died about a year ago. Totally unexpected. It really threw me. I went into this shell. A nice warm safe shell. But lately I've been thinking. It's not what she would have wanted for me. So...." Andrew looks at her, she sighs "So, what about you? You're a reasonably attractive guy." he chuckles, embarrassed " _Reasonably_?" "Why haven't you been out and about?" he thinks, looks at her, loses his smile, and thinks some more. She looks at him sadly "Another long story for another time?" he nods.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie is sharpening her blade on a whetstone, Andrew is looking through some papers. "So she just handed the providences over to you?" he looks at her "Provenances." "Fine then, provenances?" he nods "Yes. We went back to her place, I got a copy of the papers..." "And?" she asks smirking "And nothing. That's it. I left." "You didn't have to con her or do any...special favors or anything like that?" he sighs "Averie, would you get your mind out of the gutter, please?" she laughs "You know when this whole thing's done, we could stick around for a little bit."

"Why?" "So you could take her out again. It's obvious you're into her, even I could see that." Averie says smiling, Andrew turns back to the papers "Hey, I think I've got something here." she walks over, he hands her the paper. ""Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family, painted 1910."" she reads out loud "Now compare the names of the owners with Dad's journal." she pulls the journal out "First purchased in 1912, Peter Simms, Peter Simms murdered. Same thing in 1945. Oh, same thing in 1970." "Then stored, until it was donated to a charity auction last month. Where the Telescas bought it. So what do you think, it's haunted? or cursed?" she shrugs "Either way, it's toast."

~AUCTION HOUSE. NIGHT.~

Averie leaps and easily scales the meters high metal gates and sprints into the mist, she turns around "C'mon!" Andrew climbs over and goes over to the security alarm. With gloves on, he disarms it "Go ahead." she picks the locks and goes in. They shine their flashlights around inside, quickly searching for the painting. Averie spies it upstairs and they sprint up the spiral staircase. Holding her flashlight in her mouth, she flicks open the switchblade and cuts the painting from its frame. 

Averie throws the painting in the dirt, Andrew holds the flashlight as she readies the matches. "Ugly ass thing. If you ask me we're doing the art world a favor." she drops the match and the painting ignites, they watch it burn away. But, inside the Auction House, the painting regenerates itself.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie rushes out of the bathroom "Andrew, we got a problem." he looks up from his duffel bag "What?" "I can't find my wallet." "How is that _my_ problem?" "'Cause I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night." he looks at her horrified "You're kidding, right?" she shakes her head "No. It's got my prints, my ID, well my fake ID anyway. We gotta get it before someone else finds it. Come on." 

~AUCTION HOUSE. DAWN~

They hurry around, looking everywhere "How do you lose your wallet, Av?" Andrew asks frustrated. Averie throws her hands in the air and keeps looking, Sarah walks in and sees them "Hey guys!" she says smiling. They both spin around, then try and act cool. "Sarah, hey!" Andrew says "What are you doing here?" "Ahh, we.... we are leaving town and, you know, we came to say goodbye." Averie walks over "What are you talking about?, we're sticking around for at least another day or two." he looks at her confused. She pulls her wallet out of her pocket "Oh. By the way. I'm gonna go ahead and give you that $20 I owe you." she looks at Sarah "I always forget."

He glares at Averie, who hands him cash "There you go." he takes it. She smiles at them "Well I'll leave you two crazy kids alone, I gotta go do something...somewhere." she leaves quickly. Andrew looks at Sarah "So.." "I had a good time last night." she says smiling "Yeah, yeah. I did too." "Maybe we should do it again sometime." "You know. I'd love to, I really would, but Averie, she was just screwing around. We really are taking off today." "Oh. Ah that's too bad." she frowns. He sees the family painting being carried past "Oh my god!" he yells, Sarah looks at him confused "What?" 

"The....that painting....looks so good!" he says, his voice going high pitched. "If you can call that monstrosity good, then...yeah, I guess." "So...what do you know about that painting?" "Not much -- just that it creeps me out. We sold it to the Telescas at a charity auction the night they were murdered." she says staring at it. Andrew nods "Yeah, and now you're just going to sell it again?" Sarah turns to him "As much as my Dad wants to, no, I won't let him. I think it'd be in bad taste." "Good. Yeah. You know what? Don't. Don't. Make sure you don't, okay?" "Why? Don't tell me you're interested in that?" 

Andrew gets flustered and backs up "No. No, God, no. Not in buying it, no. You know what, I gotta go, I gotta take care of something. But umm, I will call you back...I will call you, I'll see you later." Sarah smiles "Wait, so you're...not leaving tonight?" "No-o-o, I guess not. I'll see ya." he walks to Averie quickly, she watches him "O..kay?"

~IMPALA~

"I don't understand, Averie, we burned the damn thing!" Andrew says, Averie sighs "Yeah, thank you Captain Obvious. All right, we just need to figure out another way to get rid of it. Any ideas?" "Okay, all right. Well, um, in almost all the lore about haunted paintings it's always the painting's subject that haunts 'em." "Yeah. So we just need to figure out everything there is to know about that creepy-ass family and that creepy-ass painting. What were their names again?"

~SECOND HAND BOOK SHOP.~

The proprietor stands behind the counter talking to Andrew as Averie looks around. "You said the Isaiah Merchant family right?" he asks, "Yeah that's right." Averie walks over, smiling and flipping through a magazine of old guns. He lays a huge book of newspaper clippings on the table "I dug up every scrap of local history I could find. So are you two crime buffs?" Averie nods "Kinda. Yeah. Why do you ask?" "Well.." He holds up a newspaper article. The lead story on the front page is 'New Titanic Sinks, 1500 People Go To Watery Graves: Only 705 saved from 3,300 Aboard Liner Which Collides With Iceberg. Disaster Proves To Be the Greatest in Marine History of the World.' he points at a side article 'Father Slaughters Family, Kills Himself'.

"Yes. Yeah, that sounds about right." she mutters, Andrew looks at him "The whole family was killed?" the proprietor nods "It seems this Isaiah, he slits his kids' throats, then his wife, then himself. Now he was a barber by trade. Used a straight razor." "Why'd he do it?" "Let's look. Ahh... 'People who knew him describe Isaiah as having a stern and harsh temperament. Controlled his family with an iron fist. Wife, uh, two sons, adopted daughter....'" he skims the page "'There were whispers that the wife was gonna take the kids and leave." Which of course you know in that day and age, um ....so instead, old man Isaiah...well he gave them all a shave." he draws his hand across his throat, laughing. Averie starts laughing but stops when Andrew gives her a bitchface.

Averie sighs "Does it say what happened to the bodies?" "Just that they were all cremated." "Anything else?" "Yeah. Actually I found a picture of the family. It's right here... somewhere. Right -- here it is." he shows them a picture of the painting. "Hey, could we get a copy of this please?" Andrew asks "Sure." 

~AUCTION HOUSE.~

Blake watches as the painting is packed into a moving crate, Sarah walks over "Dad! You promised you wouldn't sell that painting." "I know sweetie, but Evelyn's offered a persuasive amount of money." she glares at him "You're shameless, you know that?" he smiles "For that sort of money I can afford to be."

~MOTEL ROOM.~

Andrew and Averie are sitting at the table, "I'm telling you, I'm sure of it. The painting at the auction house, Dad is looking down. Painting here, Dad's looking out. The painting has changed, Av." "All right, so you think that Daddy dearest is trapped in the painting and is handing out Colombian neckties like he did with his family?" "Well yeah, it seems like it. But if his bones are already dusted then how are we gonna stop him?" he sighs. She shrugs "All right, well, if Isaiah's position changed then maybe some other things in the painting changed as well. You know it could give us some clues." "What, like a Da Vinci Code deal?" she looks at him confused "I don't....know. uhh...I'm still waiting for the movie on that one. Anyway, we gotta get back in and see that painting."

Averie gets up and walks over to the bed, she sits down and smiles "Which is a good thing cause you can get some more time to crush on your girlfriend." "Averie, enough." "What?" she asks innocently "What? Ever since we got here, you been trying to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?" She sighs "Well, you like her don't you?" he nods and looks at the ceiling. "All right, you like her, she likes you, you're both consenting adults..." he gets upset and raises his voice "What's the point? We'll just leave. We always leave." Averie flinches slightly "Well I'm not talking about marriage, Andrew." "You know, I don't get it. What do you care if I hook up?"

Averie smiles and calmly says "Cause then maybe you wouldn't be so cranky all the time." Andrew stares at her, then huffs out a breath and looks away. She stands up and walks over "You know, seriously Andrew, this isn't about just hooking up, okay? I mean, I, I think that this Sarah girl could be good for you." he sighs and looks at her, she softly continues talking "And... I don't mean any disrespect but I'm sure this is about Hannah, right? Now I don't know what it's like to lose somebody like that.... but... I would think that she would want you to be happy."

Andrew listens, tears in his eyes and stays quiet. "God forbid have fun once in a while. Wouldn't she?" he nods and quietly says "Yeah I know she would." he gives a half smile, then sighs heavily. "Yeah you're right. Part of this is about Hannah. But not the main part." "What's it about?" she asks sitting on the table. Andrew stays quiet, Averie sighs "Yeah all right." She gets off the table and walks over to the bed, lies back, and crosses her arms "Well we still gotta see that painting, which means you still gotta call Sarah, so..."

He picks up his phone and clears his throat, she shakes her head and closes her eyes. He calls Sarah, she picks up "Sarah, hey, it's Andrew." " _Oh , Hey._ " "Hey, hi." " _How're you?_ " "Good. Good, yeah. Umm. What about you?" Averie opens one eye slightly watching Andrew. "Yeah good, good, really good." he says, she chuckles and whispers "Smooth.." "So, ah, so listen. Me and my sister, were...uh...thinking that maybe we'd like to come back in and look at the painting again. I ..." she shakes her head and closes her eyes again. "I think maybe we are interested in buying it." " _Oh, I'm sorry, but my father already sold it._ " "What!?" Andrew's voice snaps Averie out of her dazed zone. He stands up "Who'd you sell it to?" " _A nice older woman named Evelyn._ " Averie sits up listening closely "Sarah I need the address right now. It's important.."

~EVELYN'S MANSION. NIGHT~

Evelyn sits reading in her lounge. The painting is on the wall above the fireplace. Isaiah turns his head, watching her. Evelyn puts down her book and places her glasses on top of it before picking up her cup of tea. In her glasses there's a reflection of a straight razor sliding past. Evelyn hears a shuffling noise and looks up, gasping in horror.

-few minutes later-

The Impala roars up and the Walkers jump out. Sarah appears from the car waiting in the driveway. "Andrew, what's happening?" she asks him, "I told you, you shouldn't have come." he says running past her. Averie joins them and they run up the stairs to the front porch. Averie starts banging on the door "Hello, anyone home?" Sarah walks up the stairs "You said Evelyn might be in danger, what sort of danger?" Averie sighs and reaches into Andrew's pocket, taking his lock pick "I can't knock this sucker down. I gotta pick it."

Averie starts to pick the lock as Andrew bangs on the windows, which are covered with metal security bars. "What are you guys, burglars?" Sarah asks, "I wish it was that simple. Look you really should wait in the car. It's for your own good." he says turning to her. Averie gets the door open and Andrew quickly follows her inside. "The hell I will. Evelyn's a friend." she follows them in. "Evelyn?" she calls out, "Evelyn." Averie says loudly.

The enter the lounge, Evelyn sits half turned away from them. The painting has changed, Isaiah now looks at his daughter rather than straight ahead. "Evelyn? It's Sarah Blake....Are you all right?" Sarah walks over to her and puts her hand on Evelyn's shoulder. "Sarah don't!" Andrew says, Evelyn's head tips back, exposing that her slashed throat. Sarah screams "Oh my god! Oh god!" Andrew puts his arm around her and shepherds her out of the room.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie sits at the mini bar with the laptop, Andrew paces. There is a knock on the door, he opens it and Sarah storms past him. "Hey. You all right?" he asks "No, actually, I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn's, alone, and found her like that." Averie smirks while Andrew looks relieved. "Thank you." "Don't thank me, I'm about to call them right back if you don't tell me what the hell's going on. Who's killing these people?" he turns to Averie, she shrugs, he turns back to Sarah "It's _what_." "What?" he sighs "It's not 'who'. It's 'what' is killing those people."

Sarah looks at him like he's crazy "Sarah, you saw that painting move." "No...no I was...I was seeing things. It's impossible." Averie chuckles "Yeah well, welcome to our world." Andrew looks at her "I know this sounds crazy...but we think that that painting is haunted." Sarah snickers with tears in her eyes "You're joking." She looks from one to the other. They both just stare at her "You're not joking. God, the guys I go out with." Andrew sighs "Sarah, think about it. Evelyn, the Telescas, they both had the painting. And there have been others before that. Wherever this thing goes people die. And we're just trying to stop it. And that's the truth." 

Sarah takes a deep breath "Then I guess you'd better show me. I'm coming with you." "What? No. Sarah no, you should just go home. This stuff can get dangerous and...and I don't want you to get hurt." she looks at him "Look, you guys are probably crazy, but if you're right about this? Well me and my Dad sold that painting that mighta got these people killed. Look I'm not saying I'm not scared because I am scared as hell but...I'm not going to run and hide either." she walks to the door. "So are we going or what?" he sighs "Andrew?" Averie asks, he turns to where she's sitting, she points at Sarah "Marry that girl."

~EVELYN'S HOUSE. DAY~

Andrew kneels to pick the lock "Ahhh... isn't this a crime scene?" Sarah asks, Averie smiles "You've already lied to the cops. What's another infraction?" Once inside Andrew lifts the painting down from the wall and they examine it. "Aren't you worried that it's...gonna kill us?" Sarah asks, he shakes his head "Nah, it seems to do its thing at night. I think we're all right in the daylight." Averie compares the painting to the picture in the book "Andrew, check it out. The razor, it's closed in this one but it's open in that one." "What are you guys looking for?" Averie looks up at her. "Well if the spirit's changing aspects of the painting then it's doing so for a reason."

Andrew points at a small painting in the painting (weird wording) "Hey hey look at this. The painting in the painting." "Looks like a crypt, or a mausoleum or something." Averie says as she grabs a thick glass ashtray and uses it as a magnifying glass. "It says Merchant."

~GRAVEYARD~

Andrew, Averie and Sarah walk between the graves. "This is the third boneyard we've checked. I think this ghost is jerking us around." Averie says groaning, Sarah sighs "So this is what you guys do for a living?" Andrew chuckles "Not exactly. We don't get paid." "Well, Mazel tov to you for dealing with this." Averie sees the mausoleum "Over there." Averie breaks the lock and they enter, pushing aside the cobwebs. There is a number of name plates as well as four urns in front of little glass fronted boxes. Sarah looks into one of the cases at a doll.

"Okay, that right there -- is the creepiest things I've ever seen." she says, Andrew stands next to her "It was a... sort of tradition at the time. Whenever a child died sometimes they'd preserve the kid's favorite toy in a glass case, put it next to the headstone or crypt." a wind blows in. Averie sighs "Notice anything strange here?" "Where do I start?" Sarah asks, Andrew chuckles. "No, that's not what I mean. Look at the urns." "Yeah. There are only four." "Yeah Mom and the three kids. Daddy dearest isn't here." Andrew sighs "So where is he?"

~OUTSIDE OFFICE BUILDINGS.~

Andrew and Sarah sit on a small fence, "So what exactly is your sister doing in there?" "Searching county death certificates trying to find out what happened to Isaiah's body." "How'd she even get in?" "Lying and subterfuge mostly." they stare at each other. Sarah tilts her head "You have a...uh....you have an eyelash on your right...no...uh...you know what." she stops trying to help. He chuckles and hold the eyelash on his finger "Make a wish." he says laughing, Sarah chuckles and blows it away.

"Andrew, can I ask you something?" "Sure." "I don't mean to be forward, but a girl could wait here forever. Is there something, here, between us? Or am I delusional?" he smiles "You're not delusional." "There's a but coming isn't there?" " _But_... I don't think this would be a good idea." Sarah frowns "Can I ask why?" Andrew looks away from her "'Cause I like you." "Wait. You lost me." They both laugh a little, Andrew gets serious "Look, it's hard to explain. Ah--It's just when people are around me -- I don't know, they get hurt." "What do you mean?"

He sighs "I mean like physically hurt. With what me and my sister do, it's...." he takes a deep breath "Sarah, I had a girlfriend. And she died. And my Mom died too. I don't know, it's like, it's like I'm cursed or something. Like death just follows me around. Look, I'm not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody..." she frowns "You're scared they'd get hurt too." he looks at the ground "That's very sweet. And very archaic." he looks back up "What?" 

Sarah smiles "Look I'm a big girl Andrew, it's not your job to make decisions for me. There's always a chance of getting hurt." "I'm not talking about a broken heart and a tub of Haagen Dazs. I'm talking about life and death." she smiles "And tomorrow I could get hit by a bus. That's what life is. Look, I know losing somebody you love -- it's terrible. You shut yourself off. Believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else too." "Sarah, you don't understand. The pain that I went through... I can't go through it again. I can't."

Averie walks over "Am I interrupting something?" Andrew looks at her "No." Sarah sighs "No, not at all." she looks at both of them "Huh. Apparently." He clears his throat "So, what'd you find?" "Payday. Apparently the surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah that they didn't want him interred with the rest of the family. So, they handed him over to the county, the county gave him a pauper's funeral. Economy style. Turns out he wasn't cremated; he was buried in a pine box." he nods "So there's bones to burn?" "There's bones to burn."

~GRAVEYARD. NIGHT.~

Averie and Andrew dig; Sarah holds a flashlight. Andrew crawls out of the grave to stand next to Sarah. "You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this." he looks at her and chuckles "Well, ah, this isn't exactly the first grave we've dug. Still think I'm a catch?" she laughs. Averie hits her shovel on something hard "I got something!" Averie sits the coffin and it cracks open to reveal a body.

Averie pours the salt, Andrew pours the kerosene. Sarah watches them, Averie strikes a match "You've been a real pain in the ass Isaiah. Good riddance." she tosses it in. They stand and watch it burn to ashes.

~EVELYN'S HOUSE.~

The Impala pulls up, Andrew gets out "Keep the motor running." "I thought the painting was harmless now?" Sarah asks "Better safe than sorry. We're gonna bury the sucker." Sarah gets out "I'm gonna with you." "You sure?" "Yeah." They start walking away, Averie calls Andrew back "Hey! hey hey." he turns and walks to her door "I'll stay here, you go make your move." he scoffs and walks away "Andrew. I'm serious!" As Sarah and Andrew move up the stairs Averie turns on the radio. A love ballad is heard. Grimacing, Andrew turns around and flips Averie off. She mouths 'What?', he motions for her to cut off the music. Sighing, she turns it off.

They walk in the house and stand in front of the painting looking surprised "Ahhh, Andrew? You're the expert on all this ghost stuff. Is that painting supposed to look like that? Where's the little girl?" "And the razor.." They hear noises and laughter and turn around in time to see the front door shutting on them.

Averie runs up the stairs and starts shoving at the door. Inside Andrew also runs to the door and yanks on it. "Av, is that you?!" "Andy, you alright?!" he pulls out his phone and calls Averie. She answers "Andy, please tell me you slammed the door and are okay." "I'm fine Av, it wasn't me. I think it was the little girl." "Girl? What girl?" "Yeah she's out of the painting. I think it might've been her all along." "Wasn't the Dad looking down at her? Maybe he was trying to warn us." he sighs "Hey hey hey, let's recap later all right? Just get us out of here."

She groans "Well I'm trying to pick the lock, the door won't budge." "Well, knock it down." "Okay _genius_ , let me just grab my _battering_ _ram_." she could hear the worriedness in his voice "Avie, the damn thing is coming." she's slightly taken back by the fact he used her nickname from when he was little. "Well you're just gonna have to hold it off until I figure something out. Get some salt or iron." Andrew grabs Sarah's hand "Come on."

He rummages through the kitchen drawers, she rummages in the lounge cupboards. "What kind of house doesn't have salt? Low-sodium freaks." he looks at Sarah "Hey, d'you find any iron?" "No. What's it for?" "Iron repels evil spirits but it's gotta be pure." he talks into the phone "Uh, Averie, give me a sec, don't go anywhere." 

Averie leaves the front door and starts walking the front porch looking for entrances. Andrew sighs "Look in the chair. Sometimes the seats." The lounge doors slam shut, wind blows papers everywhere. The girl appears, dragging her doll along the floor by one foot, a razor in her other hand. "Andrew?" Sarah asks scared, he backs up, keeping her behind him. The ghost comes closer, moving in an inhuman manner "That's just wrong.." she mutters

Andrew backs into the fireside implements, grabs the poker. The girl's face shivers and she roars. Sam swings at the ghost, she disappears. "Iron?" Sarah asks, "Yeah." he says. Andrew hears Averie on the phone yell "Andy! You okay?" "Yeah for now.." "How we gonna waste her?" "I don't know, she was already cremated. There's nothing left to burn." "Then how's she still around?" "There must be something else."

Sarah grabs his arm "Andrew, wait. We used to handle antique dolls at the auction." "Well that's fascinating Sarah but is it important right now?" she looks at him "Back then they use to make the dolls in the kids image, I mean everything, they would use the kid's real hair." he lifts the phone to his ear "Av, Sarah said the doll might have the kid's real hair. Human remains, same as bones."

~THE MAUSOLEUM/EVELYN'S HOUSE. (Switching places)~

Averie races the Impala toward the graveyard, driving through the locked gates. 

Andrew raises the poker. A heavy cupboard comes across the room, knocking him over and pinning him on the ground. Sarah runs to help, calling his name. She hears a noise and spins, coming face to face with the ghost.

Averie screeches the Impala to a halt and leaps out of the car, running into the mausoleum. She pounds at the glass container, then smashes at it with the butt of her gun but it doesn't break. She turns to run back to the car, gun in hand, then stops and looks down at it, she mutters to herself "C'mon dumb ass, your brother could be dead by now because of you!" Averie shoots the glass, lifting her other arm to protect her face. She uses the gun to knock out the rest of the glass until she can grab the doll.

Sarah is thrown through the air by the ghost, she pulls herself along the floor and pushes herself up against the wall, watching the ghost approach while raising the razor. Andrew uses all his strength to push the cupboard slowly away from him. "Sarah!"

Averie grabs the doll, reaches for her lighter, it refuses to light. "Come on! Light already!" the lighter finally catches and he holds it under the doll's hair. It begins to smoke and then to burn. 

The ghost raises the razor, preparing to strike "No!" he yells, he dives for Sarah pulling her out of the way just as the ghost is about to bring the razor down. At the same moment the ghost rears back, burning up. As she burns her figure reappears back in the painting, they lay on the floor together. 

Averie looks at the burnt doll on the floor of the mausoleum, then pulls out her phone. Andrew answers "Andy, ohmygod! Are you okay?" "Not bad." he chuckles.

~AUCTION HOUSE. DAY~ 

Averie approaches where Andrew and Sarah stand watching the painting be crated up. "This was archived in the county records. The Merchant's adopted daughter Melanie. Know why she was up for adoption? 'Cause her real family was murdered in their beds." she holds up some papers. "She killed them?" Sarah asks "Yeah. Who'd suspect her? Sweet little girl. So then she kills Isaiah and his family. The old man takes the blame. His spirit's been trying to warn people ever since." a worker walks over to Sarah "So where's this one go?" "Take it out back and burn it."

They stare at her "I'm serious guys. Thanks." she turns back to Andrew and Averie "So why'd the girl do it?" Andrew shrugs "Killing others? Killing herself? Some people are just born tortured. So when they die, their spirits are just as dark." Averie nods "Maybe. I don't really care. It's over, we move on." Sarah frowns and looks at Andrew "Ahh... I guess this means you're leaving." Averie looks from Andrew to Sarah. He looks at Averie, she understands and starts walking to the Impala "I'll go wait in the car. See you Sarah." She walks away grumbling "I'm the one that burned the doll, destroyed the spirit, but don't thank me or anything."

Andrew stands there awkwardly "There are a million thing I wanna say to you but for the life of me I can't think of one." Sarah says, "Yeah, I'll miss you too." "You know there's a lesson in all of this." "What's that?" "We all got through this in one piece. I didn't get hurt." He laughs "Yeah I'm glad for that." "So, maybe you're not cursed. Maybe.... maybe you'll come back and see me." 

Averie leans against the car, she watches as Sarah leads Andrew out and closes the door, Sarah leans against the door sadly. Andrew knocks on the door, nervous, she opens the door. She smiles, he leans in and kisses her, Averie smiles at the two of them "That's my boy." she whispers. She gets in the car as Sarah and Andrew go into the house.


	21. Dead Man's Blood

~BAR. MANNING, COLORADO. NIGHT~

A man, Mr. Elkins, sits at the bar flipping through a hunter's journal. "Mr. Elkins?" the barmaid asks softly, he focuses on the journal "Mr Elkins, would you like another?" he nods "Yeah, thanks Beth." She walks behind the bar, the bartender looks at her "Thought they caught the Unabomber." Beth nods "Yeah, poor Mr Elkins lives all alone, up the canyon. Sits here every day, going through his papers, making his little notes. He's a nice old man; he's just a nut." she pours a shot and hands it to Mr. Elkins "Here you go."

One woman and three men have enter the bar. They survey the room before moving to the bar. Elkins watches them, "What'll you have?" Beth asks them, "Jack all around, leave the bottle." the woman says. "You hungry?" she shakes her head "We have _diner plans_." "Okay?" Beth turns around and grabs a 'bottle of jack' "Can I get you something else Mr Elkins?" she turns to see his seat is empty.

~COUNTRY CABIN.~

Elkins parks and hurries to the door, looking behind him as he struggles with the key. Once inside he dumps his papers on the desk, then freezes. He slowly turns to see the woman from the bar "It's been a while. I gotta say, you look old." "What do you want?" he yells "What do you think?" He throws a knife which hits the dead center of her chest. She looks down and pulls it out "Damn. You can do better than that." she smiles. 

Elkins hurries into the other room, locking the door and pushing a heavy bookcase across it. He opens a cupboard to reveal a safe and begins the combination "Come on, come on!" There is banging on the door. He removes a metal box from the safe and opens it to reveal an old-fashioned gun. He begins to load it. The banging continues, Two men drop through the roof and leap over the desk to grab him. The gun falls to the floor. The bookcase barricading the door falls and the woman walks though. The woman picks the gun up from the floor and examines it. "Nice gun. Wouldn't do you much good of course. Boys, we're eating in tonight." the men bite his neck and drain his blood.

~CAFE. ANNAPOLIS MARYLAND. DAY~

Averie is flipping through a newspaper, Andrew on his laptop. She folds the newspaper annoyed "Well dude. Not a decent lead in all of Maryland. What've you got?" "Well, I've been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota. Here. A woman in Iowa fell 10,000 feet from an airplane and survived." she chuckles "Sounds more like 'That's Incredible' than, uh, 'Twilight Zone'." "Yeah.." She smirks "Hey you know we could just keep heading east. New York. Upstate. We could drop by and see Sarah again. Huh? You two seemed pretty friendly. What do you say?" he sighs "Yeah, I dunno, maybe someday. But in the meantime we got a lot of work to do Av, and you know that."

"Yeah all right. What else you got?" she says upset, "Ahh, man in Colorado, local man named Daniel Elkins, was found mauled in his home." "Elkins? I know that name." he shrugs "Doesn't ring a bell." she repeats the name "Elkins...Elkins...Elkins." "Sounds like the police don't know what to think. At first they said it was some sort of bear attack and now, they've found some signs of robbery." "Mm-hmm." she flips through Ethan's journal. "There, check it out." she says pointing to 'D Elkins 970-555-0158' in the journal. "You think it's the same Elkins?" he asks "It's a Colorado area code."

~ELKINS CABIN. NIGHT~

The door opens slowly, Andrew puts away his lock pick, Averie holds a flashlight. "Looks like the maid didn't come today." she says chuckling, "Hey, there's salt over here. Right beside the door." she walks over to Elkins' desk and flips through his journal "You mean protection against demon salt, or 'oops I spilled the popcorn' salt." "It's clearly a ring. You think this guy Elkins was a player?" "Definitely." he comes up behind her "That looks a hell of a lot like Dad's." She nods "Yep, except this dates back to the 60s."

Outside a man watches them from the woods. They move into the other room and shine their flashlights around the destruction, including up at the hole in the roof. Andrew looks up "Whatever attacked him, it looks like there was more than one." Averie sighs "Looks like he put up a hell of a fight too." "Yeah.." they continue looking around. Averie crouches to look at the floor "You got something?" he asks, "I dunno. Some scratches on the floor." "Death throes maybe?" "Yeah, maybe."

She grabs a page from a notebook, places it over the marks and rubs a pencil lead over it to get an outline. "Or maybe a message." she mutters peeling up the paper, which somehow has a lot of blood on the back. There's some rubbings of characters, she hands it to Andrew "Look familiar?" "Three letters, six digits. The location and combination of a post office box. It's a mail drop." "The same way Dad does it." she says.

~POST OFFICE. NIGHT~

Averie opens the post office box, Andrew at her side. She removes a letter, stares, and shows it to him, it has Ethan's initials. They look at each other, confused.

~IMPALA~

They sit in the Impala, "'E.W.' You think? Ethan Walker?" Andrew asks, "I don't know. Should we open it?" Averie asks. There's a knock on Averie's window, she gasps, rears back, automatically raising her arm, fist clenched. It's Ethan Walker. When he sees he has shocked them he smiles. "Dad?" she asks, he gets in the backseat "Dad, what are you doing here? Are you all right?" Andrew asks turning around. "Yeah, I'm ok. I read the news about Daniel, I got here as fast as I could. I saw you two at his place." 

Andrew frowns and softly says "Why didn't you come in?" "You know why. Because I had to make sure you weren't followed.... by anyone or anything. Nice job of covering your tracks by the way." Averie smiles "Yeah, well, we learned from the best." "Wait, you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?" Andrew asks confused. "Yeah. He was... he was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting." "Well you never mentioned him to us." "We had a... we had kind of a falling out. I hadn't seen him in years." he points at the envelope "I should look at that."

She hands it to him "If you're reading this, I'm already dead'... that son of a bitch." "What is it?" she asks "He had it the whole time." "Dad, what?" He looks up at them "When you searched the place, did you, did you see a gun? An antique, a Colt revolver, did you see it?" "Ah, there was, there was an old case but it was empty." "Damnit. They have it." Ethan mutters. "You mean whatever killed Elkins?" Ethan ignores her and starts climbing out of the car "We gotta pick up the trail."

Andrew looks at him "Wait. You want us to come with you?" "If Elkins was telling the truth, we gotta find this gun." Ethan says, "The gun -- why?" "Because it's important, that's why." Andrew looks at him "Dad, we don't even know what these things are yet." "They were what Daniel Elkins killed best: Vampires." Averie looks at him confused "Vampires? I thought there was no such thing. You never even mentioned them." he sighs "I thought they were extinct. I thought Elkins and -- and others had wiped them out. I was wrong." he looks at them. "Most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them, sunlight won't kill them, and neither will a stake to the heart. But the bloodlust, that part's true. They need fresh human blood to survive. They were once people, so you won't know it's a vampire until it's too late."

~HIGHWAY~

A car comes along the road toward the vampires. The female vampire throws away the empty bottle and it smashes on the road "All yours baby." she says to the one male vampire. In the car a young man drives, a young woman in the passenger seat. The woman smiles "Well I bet you showed that guy." "What guy?" "The one that bet you wouldn't buy that shirt." "I love this shirt." She shakes her head, laughing, and turns back to face the road. The guy continues smiling at her. She sees a man lying in the road. "No, look out!!" he slams on the brakes "What happened to him?" "Call 911." The guy goes to the man on the road as the girl opens her phone. He turns the man's face to him. His eyes open, as does his mouth and a mouthful of fangs descend from his gums. He grabs the young man.

~MOTEL ROOM~

Averie and Andrew sleep peacefully, Ethan sits at the table with a police radio in his hands, " _Unit 22 let me confirm. Mile marker 41,abandoned car. You need a workup?_ " " _Copy that. Possible 207. Better get forensics out here._ " he gets up from the chair and walks over to the beds. "Andrew, Averie, let's go." he says tapping their shoulders. Averie slightly wakes up "Mm-hmm." Andrew sits up, Averie rubs her eyes. "I picked up a police call." Ethan says putting his jacket on, "What happened?" "A couple called 911, found a body in the street. Cops got there everyone was missing. It's the vampires." Andrew gets up from the bed "How do you know?" "Just follow me, okay?" Ethan says as he leaves the room. Andrew walks across the room, putting his jacket on. "Huh, vampires. Get's funnier every time I hear it." a half-asleep Averie says laughing.

~HIGHWAY. DAY~

Ethan finishes talking to a cop on the scene and starts walking back to Averie and Andrew, waiting by the Impala. "I don't see why we couldn't have gone over with him." he says sulkily, she turns to him "Oh don't tell me it's already starting." "What's starting?" he asks. Ethan stands in front of them "What have you got?" she asks him, "It was them all right. Looks like they're heading west. We'll have to double back to get around that detour." Andrew looks at him "How can you be so sure?" Averie sighs "Andrew.." he looks at her and sharply says "I just wanna know we're going in the right direction."

Ethan sighs "We are." "How do you know?" he hands something to Averie "It's a...vampire fang." she says amazed. "Not fangs, teeth. The second set descends when they attack." he looks at Andrew "Any more questions?" Andrew looks away and stays silent "All right, let's get out of here, we're losing daylight." they get in the Impala, Ethan looks at the door "Hey Averie, why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it." she looks down at her car. Andrew looks at her with a 'told you so' look on his face, she grimaces.

~IMPALA~

Andrew is driving, following Ethan's truck, Averie sits in the passenger seat reading. " _Vampires nest in groups of eight to ten. Smaller packs are sent to hunt for food. Victims are taken to the nest where the pack keeps them alive, bleeding them for days or weeks._ I wonder if that's what happened to that 911 couple." Andrew sighs "That's probably what Dad's thinking. Course it would be nice if he just told us what he thinks." she rolls her eyes "So it _is_ starting." "What?"

"Andrew, we've been looking for Dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple of hours and there's static already?" "Hmph. No. Look, I'm happy he's ok, all right? And I'm happy that we're all working together again." "Well, good." unable to help himself Andrew angrily says "It's just the way he treats us, like we're children." "Oh god.." "He barks orders at us Av, he expects us to follow 'em without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal." "He does what he does for a reason." "What reason?" "Our job! There's no time to argue, there's no margin for error, all right? That's just the way the old man runs things."

"Yeah well maybe that worked when we were kids but not anymore, all right. Not after everything you and I have been through, Averie. I mean, are you telling me you're cool with just falling into line, and letting him run the whole show?" he gives her a challenging look, she nods and gives him a long look; weakly, as if she's convincing herself "If that's what it takes."

~BARN. THE VAMPIRE'S NEST.~

The vamps are partying, drinking and dancing. The 911 couple are sitting tied to a pole. Bo walks over to the man "Have some beer, buddy. It will calm your nerves." "No thanks." "Aww come on. You drink enough I can taste it in your blood." Kate walks up behind him "You're gross." she says laughing. "How 'bout you babe?" he says lifting the bottle to the woman's mouth and forces her head up with it. She drinks, "Atta girl." she spits it back in his face. He wipes it with his sleeve then lifts his arm to backhand her. Kate grabs his arm "Bo! Wait for Luther."

Bo glares and walks away. The door opens and the Luther walks in. Kate throws herself on him and they kiss "I missed you too, baby." "We got presents." he turns and looks at the couple. He kneels in front of them "She looks interesting...he does not, lock him up." The other vamps pull the guy to his feet "On second thought -- go ahead and treat yourselves." Luther says smiling. The vamps laugh, excited. They throw the guy down and bite him, drinking the rest of his blood. The woman sobs, terrified, as the guy screams. 

"There's something else." Kate says leading Luther over to the bar where cash and silver are heaped. "This all theirs?" he asks smiling, she chuckles "No. It's from an old friend of yours, Daniel Elkins. I caught his scent and thought I'd surprise you." he looks at her concerned "Kate, what did you do?" "I made him suffer." "You shouldn't have done that." "Luther.." "There's others like him. They'll know the signs and come looking for us. We have to be careful." "I did it for you, for what he did to your family." 

Luther sighs "Revenge isn't worth much if you end up dead." "I'm sorry babe. I'm sorry." he picks up the gun "I thought you might like that. It looks like it was made around the time you were born." "I've seen this before.." "Elkins died with it in his hands. He should have known better. Using a gun." "This is no ordinary gun."

~IMPALA. NIGHT.~

Averie is on the phone, Andrew looks at her "Yeah Dad. All right, got it." she hangs up "Pull off at the next exit." she looks at him. "Why?" "Cause Dad thinks we've got the vampire's trail." "How?" "I don't know; he didn't say." Andrew guns the engine, Averie looks at him like he's crazy. She turns to look at Ethan's truck as Andrew overtakes it and passes it. Once in front he slams on the brakes, causing the Impala to swerve sideways in front of Ethan's truck. They both stop "Fuck fuck fuck.." she mutters.

Andrew gets out of the Impala "Andrew!" she follows him, Ethan gets out of his truck looking angry "Andrew!" Averie yells again trying to stop him. "What the hell was that?!" Ethan yells at Andrew "We need to talk." "About what?" "About everything. Where we going Dad. What's the big deal about this gun." Averie sighs "Andy, come on, we can Q and A after we kill all the vampires." Ethan nods "Your sister is right, we don't have time for this." 

"Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous for us to be together. Now out of the blue you need our help." Andrew says, he steps closer to Ethan and yells "Now obviously something big is going down, and we wanna know what!" "Get back in the car." "No." "I said get back in the damn car!" "Yeah. And I said no." Averie looks at him "Ok you made your point tough guy. Look we're all tired, we can talk about this later. Andy, I mean it, come on." she grabs Andrew and pushes him back to the car. 

Andrew glares at Ethan "This is why I left." Ethan looks at him "What'd you say?" "You heard me!" Ethan grabs Andrew by the collar and slams him against the Impala "Yeah. You left. Your sister and me, we needed you. You walked away, Andrew!" "Dad, don't." Averie says. Ethan gets in Andrew's face "You walked away!" "Stop it, both of you!" Averie cries out. "You're the one who said don't come back Dad, you closed that door not me. You were just pissed off that you couldn't control me anymore!" She intervenes and pushes them apart "Listen, stop it, stop it. Stop it!! That's enough!!" 

Ethan and Andrew glare at each other, she turns to Andrew "That means you too." Andrew gets into the Impala. Ethan turns back to his truck. Averie stands in the middle of the road, alone. She looks from one to the other "Just terrific.." she mutters.

~VAMPIRES NEST.~

Kate and Luther get it on against the bar. The woman is still tied up, trying not to watch as he removes Kate's shirt. They both turn to look at the woman, "You like to watch huh? me too." Luther says as he cuts Kate's arm, Kate sucks the blood and walks over to the woman. She kneels down and forces the blood into her mouth. "Welcome home."

~OUTSIDE THE VAMPIRE NEST. DAY~

A beat up Camaro pulls in. Luther, in a t-shirt, comes out to meet it, holding the door open and shading his eyes from the sun. "I know what time it is." the vamp says annoyed "Get in." Luther looks around then goes back inside. Averie, Andrew, and Ethan are hiding in the trees. She groans "Son of a bitch. So they're really not afraid of the sun?" Ethan looks at her "Ahh, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn. The only way to kill 'em is by beheading. And yeah, they sleep during the day -- doesn't mean they won't wake up." "So I guess walking right in's not our best option." "Actually, that's the plan."

Andrew and Averie open the Impala's trunk. The two weapon up while Ethan does the same from an automatic hidden compartment that slides from the back of his truck. "Dad, I've got an extra machete if you need one." she says holding it up but he unveils a massive shiny serrated edge machete from a leather holder. "I think I'm ok. Thanks." she looks at the machete "Wow.." Ethan looks at Andrew "So, you really wanna know about this Colt?" "Y-Yes, sir." "It's just a story, a legend really. Well I thought it was. Never really believed it until I read Daniel's letter...." 

~

A man sits at a desk making a gun, and numbered bullets. He picks up the gun and carves a devil's trap in the side of it. _Back in 1835, when Halley's comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo. They say Samuel Colt made a gun. A special gun. He made it for a hunter, a man like us only on horseback. Story goes he made thirteen bullets, and this hunter used the gun a half dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. And somehow Daniel got his hands on it._ He stares at the gun, proud of his creation.

~

Ethan sighs "They say... they say this gun can kill anything." Averie looks at him smiling "Kill anything like, supernatural anything?" Andrew looks at them "Like the demon." "Yeah, the demon. Ever since I picked up its trail I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun -- we may have it." Ethan says nodding.

~VAMPIRE'S NEST~

A barn window swings inwards. Ethan jumps through, Andrew follows, then Averie. They survey the room. Vamps are sleeping in hammocks, Ethan looks into the stalls. Andrew and Averie make their way through the barn. As Averie passes a hammock she kicks an empty bottle on the ground. It clinks but the vampire doesn't wake. At the back of the barn Ethan finds Kate and Luther asleep on a bed in an alcove, the gun hangs in a holster beside them. 

Andrew sees the woman tied up, unconscious, he walks over to her "Averie." he says quietly. She looks over and sees them. Ethan slowly makes his way down a few steps to the bed. Luther turns over in his sleep, he looks at him scared. Andrew begins to untie the woman, they hear a noise, "There's more.." Averie whispers. She makes her way to a locked metal grid. Inside people are tied up, also sleeping or unconscious. There is a lock on the door, she grabs a metal hook to break the lock. Andrew looks up sharply at the noise and they look over to the hammocks. 

The woman tied up against the pole begins to stir. Andrew looks at her "Hey. Hey hey, shh, I'm here to help you." she lets out an unearthly roar, he rears back, Averie looks around. The vampires wake "Andrew!" Ethan turns toward the noise. Beside him Luther and Kate wake. Luther rears up and throws him against the wall. Ethan grabs a rock and hurls it at the blackened window, letting in the daylight. They flinch away, "Kids, run!" he yells loud enough for Averie and Andrew to hear.

Andrew and Averie run, calling to Ethan as they do. The vampires chase them, they burst out the barn doors into the daylight and run up the slope to the cars before turning to look back. "Dad?" Averie yells, "Dad!" After a few minutes, Ethan runs up the slope, as soon as they see him they turn to leave. "They won't follow. They'll wait till tonight. Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life." "Well what the hell do we do now?" Averie asks, "You gotta find the nearest funeral home, that's what." They look at him confused, then look at each other.

~MOTEL ROOM.~

Andrew paces back and forth, Ethan sits at the table. "It shouldn't be taking this long. I should go help." Andrew mutters, Ethan looks at him and calmly says "Averie's got it.." he continues pacing, Ethan watches him "Andy?" "Yeah?" "I don't think I ever told you this but ... the day you were born, you know what I did?" he stops pacing and stares at Ethan. "No." Ethan smiles slightly "I put a hundred bucks into a savings account for you. I did the same thing for your sister. It was a college fund. And every month I'd put in another hundred dollars, until... Anyway my point is, this is never the life that I wanted for you."

Andrew frowns "Then why'd you get so mad when I left?" Ethan sighs "You gotta understand something. After your mother passed all I saw was evil, everywhere. And all I cared about was keeping you kids alive. I wanted you...prepared. Ready. Except somewhere along the line I ... uh ... I stopped being your father and I ... I became your, your drill sergeant. So when you said that you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about, my only thought was, that you were gonna be alone. Vulnerable. Andy, it just... it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn't accept the fact that you and me -- We're just different." Andrew huffs a laugh, "What?" Ethan asks.

"We're not different. Not anymore. With what happened to Mom and Hannah...Well we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone." Andrew says chuckling, Ethan smiles "I guess you're right, son." "Hey Dad? Whatever happened to that college fund?" "Spent it on ammo." They look at each other, Andrew cracks up and so does Ethan. Averie walks in the room "Whew. Man, some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys." Ethan turns to her "Got it?" Averie fumbles in her pocket, withdrawing a paper bag and from that a bottle full of something red, blood. She hands it to Ethan.

~ROAD. NIGHT~

Averie leans over the open bonnet of the Impala, looking at the engine. "Car trouble?" Kate asks, Averie turns around. Kate smiles "Let me give you a lift. I'll take you back to my place." "Nah I'll pass. I usually draw the line at necrophilia." Kate glares at her and backhands her. Another vampire appears, Kate grabs Averie's face and lifts her in the air, Averie chuckles and grabs Kate's wrist "I don't usually get this friendly until the second date but..." "You know, we could have some fun. I always like to make new friends." Kate smiles, and lowers Averie to her level and kisses her, still holding her cheeks tightly.

"Sorry. I don't usually stay with a chick that long. Definitely not eternity." Averie says, An arrow pieces the other vamp's back. A second later a arrow pierces Kate's chest, she looks down and her chest "Damnit.." Ethan and Andrew emerges from the trees with crossbows "It barely even stings." Kate says smiling, "Give it time sweetheart. That arrow's soaked in dead man's blood. It's like poison to you isn't it?" Ethan says smirking. Kate glares at him before loosing consciousness, "Load her up. I'll take care of this one." Ethan says motioning to the second Vampire. He approaches the other vamp who is sitting groggily on the ground, he raises his machete, and brings it down. 

~CAMPSITE~

A campfire is burning. Ethan hands Averie a bag and they move from the Impala's trunk back toward the fire where Andrew is patrolling with a machete. "Toss this on the fire. Saffron, skunk's cabbage and trillium. It'll block our scent and hers, until we're ready." he says, Averie does so and starts coughing "Stuff stinks!" he chuckles "That's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes, and you stand a chance of not being detected." Andrew looks at Ethan "You sure they'll come after 'er?" "Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun. But the blood sickness is going to wear off soon, so you don't have a lot of time." 

"A half hour oughta do it." Andrew says, Ethan nods "And then I want you out of the area as fast as you can." "But.." Averie looks at him "Well, Dad you can't take care of them all yourself." "I'll have her. And the Colt." Andrew looks at him "But after. We're gonna meet up, right? Use the gun _together._ Right?" there's a moment of silece "You're leaving again ,aren't you. You still wanna go after the demon alone. You know, I don't get you. You can't treat us like this!" "Like what?" "Like children!"

Ethan sighs "You are my children. I'm trying to keep you safe." Averie chuckles "Dad, all due respect but, uh, that's a bunch of crap." Andrew and Ethan both look at her shocked "Excuse me?" "You know that Andy and I have been hunting. Hell you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe." "That's not the same thing." Averie looks at him sadly "Then what is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight?" Ethan sighs "This demon? It's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you alive." 

She glares at him "You mean you can't be as reckless." he sighs "Look... I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death ... it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die too. I won't." "What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die, and we coulda done something about it? You know I been thinking. I ...think maybe Andy's right about this one. We should do this together. We're stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it." Ethan looks away from her "We're running out of time. You do your job and you get out of the area. That's an order." Averie looks down, emotional, Andrew clenches his jaw.

~OUTSIDE VAMP NEST.~

A vamp pulls up to where Luther and the others are waiting and heads towards them. "Is there any sign of those three?" he asks angrily "No. Something else." "What?" "Luther, they cut off Frank's head!" Luther's expression changes "And Kate?" "I don't know. She wasn't there. What are we gonna do?" the noise of a truck distracts them. Luther looks over to the sound "It's just a truck up on the highway." the Vamp says "Kate. She's in that truck."

Ethan's truck travels down the road. Kate sluggishly opens and closes her eyes in the passenger seat. After a moment headlights shine in the rearview mirror. Two cars approach the truck quickly from behind.

A vampire swigs from a bottle. Looking up, he moves to stand in front of the barn doors, considers them a moment, then shrugs and takes another swig. He turns to find Averie behind him. "Boo." she says before cutting his head off. She makes her way to the locked container of people "Told you I'd be back." she begins breaking the hinges.

Ethan has to stop when the road is blocked ahead of him by Luther, three other vamps, and two cars. "Get out! Who are you?" Ethan gets out "Name's Walker." "Where are your friends?" "Cleaning out your nest." he says smugly. Luther looks at him softly "Where's Kate?" Ethan turns back to the truck "Come here sweetheart." He pulls a groggy and tied up Kate out, holding a large knife to her throat. 

"Kate, you alright?" Luther asks, she frowns "Dead man's blood.." "You son of a bitch!" Ethan looks at Luther "I want the Colt. Elkins gun. Trade." "Is that what this is all about? I mean, you can't shoot us all right? We'll kill you." "Oh, I don't need it for you. I'm saving it for something else. So, Put the colt down, or she goes first." Luther panics "All right. Just don't hurt her." he places the Colt on the ground. "Back up. Further." Ethan drags Kate forward and leans down with her to pick up the gun. Kate works at the ties around her wrists, Luther smiles at Ethan "It's a nice move, you _almost_ made it."

She swings around, knocking Ethan back against his truck. He drops the gun, Luther approaches, backhanding Ethan back against his open car door, shattering the glass before he lands unconscious on the ground. Luther stands in front of him, An arrow pierces one of the vamps, Andrew and Averie run out of the trees, Averie pauses to line up and shoot another vamp with her crossbow. Andrew moves toward Luther who punches him. Averie grabs a machete and turns to help but Luther has his arm around Andrew's throat. "Don't! I'll break his neck. Put the blade down." 

For a moment she does nothing. Luther tightens his hold on Andrew's neck, cutting off his air supply completely. She drops the machete, "You people. Why can't you leave us alone. We have as much right to live as you do." he says. "I don't think so." Ethan says from behind, he turns. Ethan raises the colt and shoots him between the eyes. Luther lets go of Andrew who stumbles away, gasping, and Averie pulls Andrew behind him. A sigil appears where the bullet hit Luther and he stumbles. A brief flash of light reflects his skeleton, before he falls to his knees. "Luther!" Kate cries out in horror. Another flash of light passes through LUTHER and he slumps to the ground dead. Kate starts toward Ethan. Another vamp grabs her, pulling her to their car. They take off, wheels screaming. He smiles in satisfaction.

~MOTEL ROOM.~

Andrew and Averie are packing their bags, Ethan walks in "So.." he says. They turn to face him, nervous, "Yes, sir?" Andrew asks, "You ignored a direct order back there." "Yes sir." Averie stays silent then looks at Ethan. "Yeah but we saved your ass." Andrew looks sideways at her, shocked. Ethan looks steadily at her, "You're right." "I-I am?" "It scares the hell out of me. You two are all I've got. But I guess we are stronger as a family. So...we go after this damn thing. Together." "Yes, sir." Andrew and Averie say at the same time.


	22. Salvation

~CHURCH. BLUE EARTH. MINNESOTA. DAY~

A Pastor is at his pulpit, he looks up when a wind ruffles his hair and the candles on the alter. Olivia walks in, "Good Morning. Can I help you?" he asks stepping down from the pulpit. She sits in a pew "I kinda...I need to talk." "Well that's what I'm here for." "I've done some things. Not good things." "Well there's always forgiveness for us if we seek it." he says smiling, she sighs "For everyone? Are you sure?" "I like to say salvation was created for sinners. Tell me what's on your mind." "Well. I've lied. A lot. I've stolen. I've lusted. And the other day I met this man. A nice guy, you know? We had a really good chat, sort of like this....then I slit his throat and ripped his heart out through his chest." Olivia blinks, her eyes turn all black "Does that make me a bad person?" The Pastor jerks away "I know what you are. You can't be here. This is hallowed ground."

She laughs "Please that may work with the minor leagues. But _not with me_." he runs for the door behind the pulpit and down the stairs. He unlocks a door and rushes inside, sliding a ready to go barricade across the door. He turns to a well stocked hunter's chest of weapons and starts scrambling for something. Olivia kicks open the door with ease, breaking the wood barricading it. The Pastor starts, then throws a knife covered in Sigils at her head. She catches it easily "You throw like a girl." "What do you want?" "The Walkers." he stares at her "I haven't spoken to Ethan Walker in over a year. You're wasting your time. Even if I did know where they were, I'd never tell you." "I know." Olivia slits his throat with his own knife and he falls back into a chair, gasping, then dying. She smiles and walks away.

~MOTEL ROOM. MANNING, COLORADO~

The walls are covered with information on the yellow eyed demon. Weather charts, hieroglyphics, pictures, newspaper articles, written notes, a shelf of books and more. Ethan sits at a paper strewn desk, the Colt in front of him. Andrew leans against the counter while Averie paces "So this is it. This is everything I know. Look, our whole lives we been searching for this demon right? Not a trace, just...nothing. Until about a year ago. For the first time I picked up a trail." he says, she nods "And that's when you took off." "Yeah. That's right. The demon must have come out of hiding, or hibernation." "All right so what's this trail you found?" He looks at a few papers "It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California. Houses burned down to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us."

Andrew looks at him "Families with infants?" "Yeah. The night of the kid's six-month birthday." "I was six months old that night?" Ethan nods "Exactly six months." Andrew looks out the window "So basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason. The same way it came for me? So Mom's death...Hannah. It's all because of me?" Averie looks at him "We don't know that Andrew." "Oh really? Cause I'd say we're pretty damn sure." "For the last time, what happened to them was not your fault." "Right. It's not my fault but it's my problem!" "No it's not your problem it's our problem!" Ethan stands up "You two! That's enough." 

Everyone stands there, silent, "So why's he doing it. What does he want?" Andrew asks. Ethan sighs "Look I wish I had more answers, I do. I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save...." he looks at the floor. Averie looks at him frowning "All right so how do we find it..before it hits again." "There's signs. It took me a while to see the pattern but it's there in the days before these fires signs crop up in an area. Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked...and..." "These things happened in Lawrence." "A week before your mother died. And in Palo Alto...before Hannah. And these signs, they're starting again." "Where?" "Salvation, Iowa."

~HIGHWAY. JUST OUTSIDE OF SALVATION, IOWA~

Ethan's truck speeds along a misty road, followed closely by the Impala. After a few moments he pulls off to the side, the Impala follows and everyone springs out of their seats. "God damn it!" Ethan yells, Averie looks at him worried "What is it?" "Son of a bitch!" "Dad! What is it!?" Ethan sighs "I just got a call from John." "Is he okay?" "He's fine. Jim Murphy's dead." Andrew's eyes widen "Pastor Jim? How?" "His throat was slashed. He bled out. John said they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place." 

Averie sighs "A demon.." Ethan nods, she looks at him "Is it _the_ demon?" "I don't know. Could be he just got careless, he slipped up. Maybe the demon knows we're getting close." "What do we do?" "Now we act like every second counts. There's two hospitals and a health centre in this county. We split up, cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's going to be six months old in the next week." Andrew sighs "Dad that could be dozens of kids. How do we know which one's the right one?" "We check em all that's how. You got any better ideas?" "No sir.." 

He nods at them and they all turn back to their vehicles. Ethan stops, leaning on his trunk. Averie turns back as she opens her door and pauses "Dad?" "Yeah. It's Jim. You know, I can't...." he frowns "This ends, now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes." They all get back in their cars and pull back onto the road, speeding into the distance.

~CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL~

Ethan pulls up in front of 'Salvation Children's Hospital'. He opens the container between the seats and shuffled through the number of IDs there, selecting one and pinning it to his jacket.

Andrew is sitting in a filing room of 'Salvation Medical Center', a nurse brings him another load of files "Here you go officer." "Thank you." "You're welcome." He continues copying birth certificate information into his notebook.

A receptionist hands a file to a hospital worker, then looks down at her clipboard. She looks up again as Averie walks in and pauses, looking around. She smiles as Averie turns to her desk. She notes her gorgeousness and raises her eyebrows "Hi. Is there anything I can do for you?" "God yes." the receptionist smiles, Averie holds her badge out "Only I'm uh....working right now, so..."

-A hour later-

Andrew walks out of Salvation Medical Center, flipping through his notebook, then clutches his head as a vision hits him. _The Yellow Eyed Demon is in a babies nursery. He flashes to a mother looking out the window, he hears a train, and then see's the demon again._ As soon as the vision finishes and he can focus again he quickly pulls out a map.

~PARK~

Andrew sits on a bench, checking his map again. As he does he gets the vision flashes again. When it's over he realizes the house from the vision is in front of him. The woman from his vision pushes a pram along the road while holding an umbrella. He approaches her "Hi. Here, let me hold that for you. You look like you don't need that anymore." "Oh thanks." She closes her umbrella while Andrew holds her pram, he looks inside. "She's gorgeous. Is she yours?" "Yeah." 

He looks at the baby "Oh wow, hi!" he turns back to the woman "Sorry, I'm rude. I'm Andrew. I just moved in up the block." "Hi. I'm Monica. This is Rosie." he smiles at Rosie "Hiya Rosie." "So, welcome to the neighborhood." "Thanks. She's such a calm baby!" Monica smiles "I know, I mean she...she never cries. She just stares at everybody. Sometimes she looks at you and I swear it's...it's like she's reading your mind."

"What about you? Have you lived here long?" Andrew asks, "My husband and I, we bought our place just before Rosie was born." "And how old's little Rosie?" "She's six months today. She's big right? Growing like a weed." He nods, distracted, "Yeah. Monica..." "Yes?" "Just ahhh,just take care of yourself okay?" "Yeah, you too. We'll see you around." As Monica turns to her house a station wagon pulls into the drive, honking. "Rosie, look, there's Daddy!"

_The clock in the bedroom stops, the nursery rhyme playing stops, a wind sweeps through. A black figure approaches the bed. Monica pushes the door open from the hallway and see's the figure standing over her daughter's bed "What are you-" The figure turns to her. She is pulled back to the wall and slides up it to the ceiling. Blood starts dripping from her stomach. "Rosie!" she yells, the room erupts into flames.  
_

~MOTEL ROOM~

Andrew sits at the table, rubbing his temples. Averie and Ethan sit on the end of each bed. "A vision?" he asks, Andrew nods and slowly says "Yes. I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling." "And you think this is going to happen to this woman you met because..." "Because these things happen exactly the way I see them." Averie sighs and looks at him "It started out as nightmares. Then it started happening while he was awake." She gets up and walks over to the counter to get Andrew a cup of coffee, "Yeah. It's like the closer I get to anything to do with the demon the stronger the visions get." Andrew says wincing in pain. 

"All right. When were you going to tell me about this?" Ethan asks, Averie stops and turns to him "We didn't know what it meant." she says. "All right, something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone and you call me." she throws the coffee pot into the sink, Andrew jumps as it shatters, she sits the cup on the counter. "Call you? Are you kidding me? Dad I called you from Lawrence all right? Andrew called you when I was dying. I mean, getting you on the phone? I got a better chance of winning the lottery." Ethan glares at her "You're right. Although I'm not too crazy about this new tone of yours, you're right. I'm sorry."

Andrew groans "Look guys, visions or no visions, fact is, we know the demon is coming tonight. And this family's gonna go through the same hell we went through." Ethan looks at him "No they're not. No one is, ever again." Andrew's phone rings, he answers it. "Hello?" " _Andrew_?" "Who is this?" " _Think real hard, it'll come to you_." "Olivia.." Ethan and Averie turn to him "Last time I saw you you fell out of a window!" " _Yeah, no thanks to you. That really hurt my feelings by the way._ " "Just your feelings? That was a seven-story drop." she chuckles " _Lemme speak to your Dad._ " 

He looks over at Ethan "My Dad? I don't know where my Dad is." " _It's time for the grown ups to talk Andrew, let me speak to him now._ " he hesitates then hands the phone to Ethan. "This is Ethan." " _Howdy Ethan. I'm Olivia. I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood....still there Ethan-boy?_ " "I'm here." " _Well that was yesterday. Today I'm in Lincoln. Visiting another old friend of yours. He wants to say hi...._ " he listens as a voice comes over the phone "Ethan, whatever you do, don't give-" he hears Olivia making a shhh sound. "John?" 

Averie and Andrew look at each other as soon as they hear John's name, "You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go!" " _We know you have the colt, Ethan._ " "I don't know what you're talking about." " _Oh, okay. Well listen to this._ " Olivia slits John's throat and holds the phone out. Ethan can hear him gasping and drowning in his own blood "John? John!" he yells, " _You hear that? That's the sound of your friend dying. Now let's try this again. We know you have the gun Ethan, word travels fast. So as far as we're concerned you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It has casualties_." "I'm gonna kill you, you know that right?" " _Oh please, mind your blood pressure. So this is the thing. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. And your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved. They'll all die unless you give us that gun._ "

Ethan thinks, then looks over at Averie and Andrew " _I'm waiting Ethie, better answer before the buzzer.._ " "Okay.." " _Sorry? I didn't quite get that._ " "I said okay, I'll bring you the colt." " _There's a warehouse in Lincoln, on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You're gonna meet me there._ " "It's gonna take me about a days drive to get there." " _Meet me there at midnight, tonight._ " "That's impossible. I can't get there in time and I can't just carry a gun on the plane." " _Oh. Well I guess your friends die don't they. If you do decide to make it, come alone._ " he hangs up.

"So, you think Olivia is a demon?" Andrew asks, "Either that, or she's possessed by one. It doesn't really matter." "What do we do?" he sighs "I'm going to Lincoln." "What?" "It doesn't look like we have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die, our friends die." Averie looks at him "Dad, the demon is coming tonight. For Monica and her family. That gun is all we got, you can't just hand it over." Ethan looks at her smiling "Who said anything about handing it over. Look, besides us and a coupla of vampires no ones really seen the gun, no one knows what it looks like." "So what, you're just going to pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" "Antique store." "You're going to hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"

Ethan sighs "Look, as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference." Andrew stares at him in disbelief "Yeah but for how long? What happens when she figures it out?" "I just...I just need to buy a few hours, that's all." "You mean for Averie and me. You want us to stay here, and kill this demon by ourselves?" "No Andy..I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school, I want Averie to have a home, a family. I want....I want your mother alive. It's just....I just want this to be over." 

~MUDDY BACK ROAD~

Andrew and Ethan stand at the back of his truck, checking weapons. The Impala comes toward them and Averie gets out "You get it?" Ethan asks, she pulls a brown paper bag out of her pocket and hands it to him. He pulls out an antique gun "You know this is a trap don't you. That's why Olivia wants you to come alone?" "I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded. Holy water, Mandaic, amulets..." she looks at him sadly "Dad.." "What?" "Promise me something." "What's that?" "This thing goes south just...get the hell out. Don't get yourself killed all right, you're no good to us dead." Ethan smiles sadly "Same goes for you." there's a long moment of silence. "All right listen to me. They made the bullets special for this colt. There's only four of them left. Without them this gun is useless. You make every shot count."

"Yes sir." Andrew says, "Been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it's here I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you now. It's your fight, you finish this. You finish what I started. Understand?" he hands Averie the Colt. "We'll see you soon Dad." Andrew says, "I'll see you later." Ethan gets in is truck and drives away, they watch him leave, Averie tears up "Later.."

~WAREHOUSE. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. NIGHT~

Ethan pulls up in his truck, gets out and checks the antique gun, then takes out rosary beads and a flask of holy water. He starts looking around and sees a tank on the roof. He jogs along an alley, stopping to check the pipes that run along it's walls and then continuing.

~MONICA'S HOUSE~

Andrew and Averie sit in the Impala, the Colt between them. They watch through the window as Monica and her husband, Charlie, finish dinner. "Maybe we could tell em it was a gas leak. Might get em out of the house for a few hours." Andrew says, "Yeah and how many times has that actually worked for us?" "Yeah.." he thinks for a moment "We could always tell em the truth." she looks at him raising her eyebrow. "No." "I know I know. I just...with what's coming for these folks..." "Andrew, we only got one move and you know it, all right? We gotta wait for that demon to show itself and then we get it before it gets them." They both look back at the house for a while "I wonder how Dad's doing." he says, "I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up." "I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up."

~WAREHOUSE~

Ethan is standing on the roof next to the tank. Olivia appears in the foreground. She slowly looks around then up at the water tank. Ethan is not there anymore, she moves inside. Ethan hides behind the tank. He checks the coast is clear, then climbs the ladder. He opens the lid, holds the rosary up, speaks in Latin and drops the rosary into the water. 

~MONICA'S HOUSE.~

Andrew sighs "This is weird.." "What?" "After all of these years we're finally here. It doesn't seem real." she chuckles "We just gotta keep our heads and do our job, like always." He looks over at her "Yeah but this isn't like always." "True." "Av, I...I wanna thank you." She looks at him confused "For what?" "For everything. You've always had my back you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone I could always count on you. And ah...I don't know I just wanted to let you know, Just in case" "Whoa whoa whoa, are you kidding me?" "What?" "Don't say just in case something happens to you. I don't wanna hear that freaking speech man. Nobody's dying tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody. Except that demon. That evil son of a bitch ain't getting any older than tonight, you understand me?" she says tearing up.

~WAREHOUSE~

Olivia stands in the middle of the room. She hears a creak and turns, Ethan is walking towards her. He stops a few feet away "Ethan, you made it. Too bad really, I was hoping to kill more of your friends." "Sorry to disappoint." "I can see where your son gets his good looks. Though I must admit, considering what they say about you I thought you'd be....taller." Ethan just stares at her "Well aren't you the chatty one. You wanna get to business? Fine. Why don't you just hand over the gun." "If I give you the gun how do I get out of here?" "If you're as good as they say you are I'm sure you'll figure something out."

He glares at her "Maybe I'll just shoot you." she smiles "You wanna shoot me baby? Go ahead. There's more where I came from." Another demon, a guy, walks out of the shadows. "Who the hell is that?" Ethan asks, "He's not nearly as much fun as I am I can tell you that. So I suggest you give us the gun." Ethan looks at the other demon, then Olivia, "Now!" he hands the fake over to her. She looks at it "This is the Colt?" he nods, she hands it to the other demon "What do you think?" The demon looks at it, points it at the ceiling, cocks it....and shoots Olivia in the chest, she grabs the gunshot wound "You shot me! I can't believe you just shot me!!" he looks over at Ethan "It's a fake!"

Olivia glares at Ethan "You're dead Ethan! You're children are dead!" he backs away "I've never used the gun. How could I know it wouldn't work?" she steps forward "I'm not in the mood for this, I've just been shot!" "Well then I guess you're lucky the gun wasn't real." "That's funny Ethan. We're going to strip the skin from your bones, but that was funny." 

A noise of gas escaping distracts her for a split second and he runs into the other room, locking the door and going down a hatch into the alley he was in earlier, lined with pipes. Olivia and the other demon kick open the door and follow. Ethan reaches the other end and turns on a tap. Water starts gushing over the floor. The other demon, now in front of Olivia, pauses, then continues. As he walks through the water his feet begin steaming and he jumps backwards, yelling. "Holy water, real cute." she snarls.

~MONICA'S HOUSE.~

Averie dials Ethan's number "Dad's not answering." Andrew looks at her "Maybe Olivia was late. Maybe cell reception's bad." "Yeah, well-" the radio starts chattering with static. "Av, wait, listen." Andrew rolls the dial on the radio, hearing more static come and go. The wind picks up and the lights in the house flicker. Averie turns to look at him "It's coming."

~WAREHOUSE~

Ethan runs out to his truck, the tires are slashed open "Damn it." he hears Olivia yell from inside "You're gonna wish you never did this, We will slash their throats in front of you! You will suffer Ethan Walker!"

~MONICA'S HOUSE~

Averie uses a card to slide the lock on the front door open and they enter silently. As they approach the lounge, Andrew first, Averie is confronted by Charlie. He swings a bat at her head and misses, smashing a lamp "Get out of my house!" she quickly closes in and grapples with him, grabbing the bat. "Get out!" Andrew tries helping Averie "Mr. Holden, please, stop." Averie easily takes control, swinging him against the wall and holding the bat across his throat.

"Be quiet and listen to me. Be quiet and listen. We are trying to help you." she says, Monica from upstairs calls down "Charlie? Is everything okay?" "Monica get the baby!" Charlie yells. Andrew looks over "Don't go in the nursery!" "You stay away from her!" He struggles to get away from Averie. She punches him, knocking him unconscious, and puts him over her shoulder in a fireman's lift.

Monica, in her nightgown as she was in Andrew's vision, pushes the door to the nursery open. A dark figure stands over Rosie's crib "What are you.." The figure raises his hand and she is flung back against the wall. Andrew races up the stairs and along the corridor as she slides up the wall and onto the ceiling. He enters the room and the dark figure turns to him , yellow eyes shining. he hesitates, frozen and staring. "Rosie!" Monica calls out. Andrew raises the Colt and pulls the trigger. The demon disappears into smoke. Monica, screaming, falls to the floor "Where the hell did it go!" "My baby!"

Monica stands, trying to move toward the crib, and is caught by Andrew. "My baby!" "No, wait!" she starts fighting him "My daughter!" Averie runs past them to the crib "Take her, I've got the baby." "Rosie!" Andrew carries her out of the room "Averie's got her." Averie quickly wraps the blankets around the baby and pulls her up as the crib explodes into flame. She races out of the room.

~WAREHOUSE~

Ethan runs down a dead end and stops, looking around and gasping for breath. He grabs for his phone but as he raises it he is flung against the wall, losing his grip on the phone. He hits the wall, groaning in pain. The male demon appears as he begins to slide up the wall and stands in front of him, smiling.

~MONICA'S HOUSE~

The nursery window explodes outwards, flames shooting out. From the smoke filled front doorway, Monica appears, guided by Andrew. Both are coughing. Charlie staggers up from where he was lying on the grass "You get away from my family." "No Charlie don't. They saved us." Averie runs out of the house carrying Rosie. Monica starts tearing up "They saved us." she takes Rosie from Averie "Thank you!" 

Andrew and Averie turn back to the burning house. The demon is silhouetted in the burning nursery, standing completely still, Andrew starts running back to the house "It's still in there!" "Andrew, no, no!" she grabs him, he tries fighting her "Av, let me go, it's still in there." "No. It's burning to the ground, it's suicide." "I don't care!" "I do!" They both look back up as the flames rise again and the demon disappears.

~MOTEL ROOM. DAWN~

Averie paces while holding the phone to her ear, listening to it ring out. Andrew sits on the bed "Come on Dad, answer your phone damn it." she hangs up "Something's wrong." Andrew stares at the wall, Averie looks at him "You hear me? Somethings wrong." "If you had just let me go in there, I coulda ended all this." "Andy, the only thing you would have ended is your life." "You don't know that." She walks to the bed "So what, you're just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?" "Damn right." 

She looks at him "Well that's not going to happen, not as long as I'm around." he looks at her upset "What the hell are you talking about Averie, we've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we've ever cared about." "I wanna waste it. I do. Okay? But it's not worth dying over." "What?" "I mean it. If hunting this demon means getting yourself killed then I hope we never find the damn thing." Andrew looks at her "It's the thing that killed Hannah, it killed Mom!" "You said yourself once, that no matter what we do, they're gone, and they're never coming back."

Andrew grabs Averie by the collar and slams her into the wall, "Don't you say that, not you! Not after all this don't you say that." She starts tearing up "Andrew, look. The three of us...that's all we have...and it's all I have. Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together man...and without you or Dad...." "Dad.." he says softly, he lets go and turns away, walking across the room. Averie stays where she is, taking deep breaths. "He should have called by now. Try him again."

~UNKNOWN~

Ethan's phone sits on a bench, ringing. Olivia wanders over and picks it up. She looks at the screen, smiles to herself and answers "You two really screwed up this time." "Where is he!" "You're never going to see your father again."


	23. Devil's Trap

_Previously in "The Family Business is Back"_

_Ethan's phone sits on a bench, ringing. Olivia wanders over and picks it up. She looks at the screen, smiles to herself and answers "You two really screwed up this time." "Where is he!" "You're never going to see your father again."  
_

~MOTEL ROOM. NIGHT~

Averie hangs up her phone and looks at Andrew "They've got Dad." "Olivia?" she nods, "What'd she say?" "I just told you!" Averie is clearly upset, she takes the Colt and tucks it into the back of her jeans. "What're you doing, Averie?" Andrew asks as she grabs her duffel bag "We gotta go." "Why?" she pulls her jacket on. "Because the demon knows we're in Salvation, all right. It knows we got the Colt. It's got Dad – it's probably coming for us next." Andrew stays on the bed "Good. We've still got three bullets left. Let it come." "Listen, tough guy, we're not ready, okay? We don't know how many of them are out there. Now, we're no good to anybody dead. We're leaving.... now!"

~IMPALA~

Averie speeds down the road, she takes a sharp turn. Andrew looks over at her "I'm telling you, Av, we could have taken him." "What we need is a plan. Now, they're probably keeping Dad alive, we just gotta figure out where. They're gonna wanna trade him for the gun." he just shakes his head, she looks over at him "What?" "Averie, if that were true, why didn't Olivia mention a trade?" he sighs "Dad, he could be.." "Don't" she screams at him. "Look, I don't want to believe it any more than you. But if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job." "Fuck the job, Andrew!" 

Andrew looks at Averie "I'm just trying to do what he would want. He would want us to keep going." she hits the steering wheel "Quit talking about him like he's dead already. Listen to me, everything stops until we get him back, you understand me? Everything." he thinks for a moment "How will we find him?" she shrugs "Maybe we go to Lincoln. Start at the warehouse where he was taken." "Come on, you really think these demons are going to leave a trail?" "You're right. We need help." the Impala drives off into the night.

~DEAN'S PLACE. SIOUX FALLS, NORTH DAKOTA~

The Impala drives onto a junkyard, which is Dean's property. Dean's is an old friend of Ethan's, who had not parted on good terms with him the last time they saw each other. There are junk cars around and hubcaps nailed to the side of the house. A large dog is chained to a post and is lying on the hood of an old tow truck.

Inside, there are books stacked everywhere. It's untidy and cluttered with papers on every wall.

Dean picks up two round silver flasks with crosses on them and hands one to Averie. Andrew is sitting at a cluttered desk reading a very large book. "Here you go." Averie takes a sip of it "What is that-Holy water?" "That one is." he hands her a different flask "This one's whiskey." He takes a swig of the whiskey and hands it to her. "Dean, thanks. Thanks for everything. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure we should come." "Nonsense. Your Daddy needs help." "Well, yeah, but last time we saw you, I mean, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. Cocked the shotgun and everything." he chuckles "Yeah, well, what can I say? He just has that effect on people."

She smiles "Yeah, I guess he does." "None of that matters now. All that matters is that you get him back." Andrew looks up from a book he's reading "Dean, this book.... I've never seen anything like it." he walks over and sits on the corner of the desk. "Key of Solomon? It's the real deal, alright." Andrew tilts his head "And these protective circles, they actually work?" "Hell, yeah. You get a demon in - they're trapped. Powerless. It's like a Satanic roach motel." they both laugh.

Averie walks over to them "Man, only you know that stuff." Dean looks at her "I'll tell you something else, too. This is some serious crap you stepped in." "Oh, how's that?" Andrew asks, he turns to face him "Normal year, I hear of, say, three demonic possessions. Maybe four, tops." "Ok?" "This year I hear of 27 so far. You get what I'm saying? More and more demons are walking among us – a lot more." Averie sighs "You know why?" "No, but I know it's something big. The storm's coming, and you two, your Daddy – you are smack in the middle of it." The dog starts barking outside, Dean looks over at the window "Rumsfeld.." he walks over, he looks out and Rumsfeld is silent.

He sees the broken chain, Rumsfeld is nowhere to be seen. He turns back to Averie and Andrew "Somethings wrong." At that moment Olivia kicks in the door and saunters in. Averie slips the holy water flask out of her pocket "No more crap, okay?" Olivia says, Averie goes after her unscrewing the cap, she flings Averie into the wall, knocking her out. Andrew step in front of Dean, he stands in between them, "I want the Colt, Andrew – the real Colt – right now." Dean and Andrew start moving across the room. Olivia follows them "We don't have it on us. We buried it." "Didn't I say "no more crap"? I swear – after everything I heard about you Walkers, I got to tell you, I'm a little underwhelmed. First Ethan tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then he leaves the real gun with you two knuckleheads. Lackluster, children. I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?"

Averie walks up behind her "Actually, we were counting on it." she turns to look at her. Averie stares at her and then looks up at the ceiling. Olivia also looks up and sees a large protective symbol etched there "You bastards!" 

-

Olivia is tied to a chair in the middle of the floor. Averie and Andrew are watching her, "You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask." Dean walks in with a very large canister of salt "I salted the door and windows. If there are any demons out there – they ain't getting in." Averie nods and stands up "Where's our father, Olivia?" she smiles "You didn't ask nicely." "Where's our father, bitch?" "Jeez. You kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh wait, I forgot, you can't!" Averie lunges at her, she hits the chair "You think this is a frigging game? Where is he?! What did you do to him?" "He died screaming. I killed him myself."

Averie just looks at her with hate, then hits her across the face. Olivia laughs "That's kind of a turn on – you hitting a girl." "You're no girl." Dean looks at Averie "Av." she follows him, so does Andrew. "You okay?" Andrew asks her, "She's lying. He's not dead." Dean frowns "Averie, you got to be careful with her. Don't hurt her." "Why?" "Because she really is a girl, that's why." "What're you talking about?" Andrew asks "She's possessed. That's a human possessed by a demon. Can't you tell?" "Are you trying to tell me there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?" Dean nods, Averie turns to look at Olivia, who is staring back at her, "That's actually good news."

-

Andrew looks through a book for an exorcism ritual. He looks at Averie - who looks back at her brother – and they move over to Olivia. "Are you gonna read me a story?" she says smugly, "Something like that. Hit it, Andy." "Regna terrae, cantate deo, psallite domino.." she glares at Averie "An exorcism? Are you serious?" "Oh we're going for it, baby – head spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards." Andrew continues behind her "tribuite virtutem deo." Olivia flinches in pain, Andrew looks at Dean. Olivia looks over her shoulder at them "I'm gonna to kill you." she turns back to Averie "You gonna watch me rip every bone from your little brother's body!"

"No, you're gonna burn in hell. Unless you tell us where our Dad is." Olivia just smiles at her "Well, at least you'll get a nice tan." she glances at Andrew. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incuriso infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, onmis congregatio et secta diabolica...." Olivia starts shaking in pain, she cries in pain and Andrew stops again "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes. He begged to see his kids one last time. That's when I slit his throat!" Averie leans in close to her "For your sake, I hope you're lying. Cause if it's true, I swear to God, I will march into hell myself and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches, so help me God!"

Andrew sighs and starts reading again "Perditionis venenum propinare. Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae. Hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei. Contremisce et effuge. Invocato a nobis sancto et terribile nomine. Quem inferi tremunt..." Olivia starts whining in pain again, "Where is he?!" "You just won't take "dead" for an answer, will you?" "Where is he!" "Dead!" Averie starts crying "No, he's not! He's not dead! He can't be!" she sits on the floor, Andrew looks at her worried "What're you looking at, keep reading!" 

"Ab insidis diaboli, libera nos, domine. Ut ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias, libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos. Ut inimicos sanctae ecclesiae humiliare digneris, to rogamus audi...." Olivia smiles "He will be.." "Wait! What?!" Averie says standing up, "He's not dead. But he will be after what we do to him." "How do we know you're telling the truth?" "You don't." "Andrew, keep reading!" "A building! Okay? A building in Jefferson City." "Missouri? Where, where? An address!" "I don't know." Andrew looks at her "And the demon – the one we're looking for - where is it?" "I don't know! I swear! That's everything. That's all I know."

Averie nods "Finish it." "What? I told you the truth!" Olivia cries out, "I don't care." "You son of a bitch, you promised." "I lied! Andrew?" he doesn't say anything, he just stares at Averie "Andrew, read!" He whispers to her "Maybe we can still use her. Find out where the demon is." "She doesn't know." "She lied." "Andrew, there is an innocent girl trapped in there." Dean walks up to them "You're gonna kill her." "What?" Averie asks, "You said she fell from a building. That girl's body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it – that girl is going to die." Averie sighs "Listen to me, both of you, we are not gonna leave her like that." "She is a human being." "And we're gonna put her out of her misery. Andrew, finish it."

Andrew looks at his sister and Dean, not sure what's the right thing to do. He looks over at Olivia. "Dominicos sanctae ecclesiae, terogamus audi nos, terribilis deus do sanctuario suo deus israhel. Ipse tribuite virtutem et fortitudinem plebi suae, benedictus deus, gloria patri." Olivia throws her head back and screams. The demon leaves through her mouth in a black cloud and spreads out in the protective circle in the ceiling before disappearing. She leans forward and blood starts to drip from her mouth. They stand there looking at her, not really sure it's over, she slowly lifts her head. Averie goes over to her "Call 911. Get some water and blankets." Dean rushes off, Averie and Andrew untie her. "Thank you." Olivia says weakly "Shh, shh. Just take it easy, alright?" Andrew says, Averie sighs "Come on. Let's get her down."

They lift Olivia from the chair, they hear the sound of bones crunching and she screams in pain. They lower her to the floor, "Sorry, sorry. I got you. I got you. It's okay. It's okay." he says. Olivia frowns "A year." "What?" "It's been a year." Andrew looks at her sadly "Take it easy.." "I've been awake for some of it. I couldn't move my own body. The things I did – it's a nightmare." Averie looks at her "Was it telling us the truth about our Dad?" "Averie." Andrew says annoyed "We need to know." Olivia nods slightly "Yes. But it wants... you to know... that... they want you to come for him." 

"If Dad's still alive, none of that matters." Averie mutters, Dean comes in with a blanket and a glass of water. He hands the glass to Averie while he and Andrew cover her. Averie holds Olivia's head up so she can drink, "Where is the demon we're looking for?" Andrew asks. "Not there. Other ones. Awful ones." Averie sighs "Where are they keeping our Dad?" "By the river. Sunrise." ""Sunrise". What does that mean? What does that mean?" Olivia lays there dead.

-

Dean sighs "You better hurry up and beat it. Before the paramedics get here." Averie looks at him "What are you gonna tell them?" "You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I'll figure something out." he hands the Key of Solomon book to Andrew "Here take this. You might need it." "Thanks." Averie hugs Dean "Thanks... for everything. Be careful, alright?" "You just go find your Dad. And when you do, you bring him around, would you? I won't even try to shoot him this time." he chuckles as they leave.

~JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI~

The Impala is parked by some train tracks. Andrew is looking through the Key of Solomon book on the roof of the car, spinning a marker in his hand. Averie is at the back of the car, loading up guns and putting them into her duffel bag. She looks upset, he looks over at her concerned "You've been quiet." "Just getting ready." "He's gonna be fine, Av." She doesn't answer and Andrew flips to another page of the book. He sees a symbol and picks up the book to walk to the open trunk lid. He rubs off the dirt and starts to draw on the lid, "Dude, what are you drawing on my car!" "It's called a Devil's trap. Demons can't get through it or inside it." "So?" "It basically turns the trunk into a lockbox." "And?" she glares at him. 

"So, we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad." Andrew says, Averie looks up at him "What are you talking about? We're bringing the Colt with us." "We can't. We've only got three bullets left. We can't just use them on any demon, we've got to use them on the demon." "No, we have to save Dad, okay? We're gonna need all the help we can get." he sighs "You know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? Av, he wouldn't want us to bring the gun." "I don't care, I don't care what Dad wants, okay? And since when do you care what Dad wants?" Andrew looks at her in disbelief "We want to kill this demon. You used to want that, too. Hell, I mean, you're the one who came and got me at school!" Averie scoffs, he continues "You're the one who dragged me back into this. I'm just trying to finish it!"

"Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that? You both can't wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I'm gonna be the one to bury you. You're selfish, you know that? You don't care about anything but revenge." Averie says glaring daggers at him, "That's not true. I want Dad back. But they are expecting us to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all. That Colt is our only leverage and you know it, Averie. We can not bring that gun. We can't." "Fine." "I'm serious." "I said fine!" Averie takes the Colt out of her jacket pocket and holds it up to show Andrew before putting it in the trunk.

-

They are walking by the river. They step up beside some trees and Averie stops, "Hey, hey, Think I know what Meg meant by Sunrise." Andrew looks over and sees an apartment building with a sign out front that says "Sunrise Apartments". She smiles "Son of a bitch. That's pretty smart. I mean, if these demons can possess people they can possess almost anybody inside." "Yeah, and make anybody attack us." "And so we can't kill them – a building full of human shields." Andrew sighs "They probably know exactly what we look like, too. And they could look like anybody." "Yeah, this sucks" "Tell me about it. Alright, so, how the hell are we going to get in?" Averie stares at the building for a few minutes, "Pull the fire alarm, get out all the civilians." "Okay, but then the city responds in, what, seven minutes?" "Seven minutes exactly." 

~SUNRISE APARTMENTS~

Andrew walks in the front door and goes to a fire alarm on the wall. Just as he's about to pull it a man comes walking down the hallway. He moves to the stairs like he's going up them, but when the man leaves through the front door he quickly goes and pulls the alarm. 

In the one apartment, a man and woman sit almost motionless at a table, they look up as the alarm goes off. The man in the apartment gets up and goes over to the bedroom door. He opens it and looks at Ethan, tied to the bed, he's breathing is shallow.

-

Outside the apartment people are leaving and firemen are coming in. Averie comes up to one of the firemen "Hey, what's happening? Is it a fire?" "We're figuring that out right now, ma'am. Just stay back." "Well, I've got a Yorkie upstairs-" "You have to stay back." Andrew moves behind them to the fire truck. He finds a compartment and picks the lock.

Averie and Andrew walk down the hallway in firefighter uniforms, Averie is using her EMF to check the doors of the apartments. "I always wanted to be a firefighter when I grew up." she says smiling, he looks at her "You never told me that." the EMF meter spikes. "Yeah, well, we started hunting so I guess there's no need to 'fight fires' anymore for me."

The woman is sitting with her head down. There is banging on the door and she looks up – her eyes are completely black. She and the man go over to the door to look out through the peep hole. "This is the fire department, we need you to evacuate." Averie says, the man steps behind the door and nods for the woman to open it. She unlocks the door and the boys shove it open. The woman is thrown backward as Averie and Andrew come through. The siblings spray the couple with water from their tanks and it burns them – holy water. Averie punches the man and shoves him into a closet.

"Come on!" she yells to Andrew, he grabs the woman off the table and shoves her in as well. Averie leans against the door and it lurches as the demons inside try to get out. "Hurry!" he grabs a canister of salt from the duffel bag and runs a line around the closet door. As soon as he finishes it the pounding stops. They take off the fireman gear and move to the bedroom door. They slowly open it and see Ethan on the bed. Averie goes over to him "Dad?" he leans down and listens for breathing, "He's still breathing." Andrew looks at her relived, she starts shaking him "Dad! Wake up!" She takes out a knife and is about to cut the restraints around Ethan's wrists.

Andrew stops her "Wait. Wait." "What?" "He could be possessed for all we know." she looks at him like he's crazy "What, are you nuts?" "Av, we have to be sure." Andrew takes a flask of holy water out of the duffel bag and sprinkles it on Ethan, it has no effect. Ethan groans and slightly wakes up "Andrew, Why are you splashing water on me?" Averie smiles "Dad, are you okay?" "They've been drugging me. Where's the Colt?" Andrew looks at him "Don't worry, Dad, it's safe." Averie takes the knife and cuts the ropes, "Good, good." he says. 

-

A fireman is talking on his radio while a group of people look on. A man in the crowd looks around and suddenly acts surprised – then his eyes go completely black. He moves toward the building and the fireman tries to stop him. "Hey, buddy, you can't go in." The fireman's eyes suddenly go black as well and he follows the man into the building.

-

Andrew and Averie carry Ethan out of the bedroom, the front door suddenly bursts open and the man and fireman come in. "Go back!" Andrew yells, They go back into the bedroom and close the door locking it. An axe suddenly goes through the door, Andrew runs over to the bag and grabs a container of salt. He starts pouring it in front of the door, Averie helps Ethan climb out of the fire escape "Andrew, let's go!" she yells.

He tosses her the duffel bag and goes through the window out onto the fire escape. He runs salt along the window sill. Averie helps Ethan down onto the street and Andrew moves ahead of them. He is suddenly attacked by the man who was with Olivia in Lincoln. He pins Andrew down on the street and starts beating him to death. Averie puts Ethan down and goes to her brother's aid "Andrew!" she cries out. She runs over and kicks the man in the face, but it has not effect. She is suddenly thrown onto a parked car, shattering the windshield, and the man goes back to beating Andrew.

Suddenly there's a gunshot, the man falls over dead, Averie stands there holding the Colt. She runs over and helps him up "Let's go Andy." she looks at the man. The demon is dead, but so is the man it was possessing. "We got to get out of here." they go over to Ethan and help him stand up.

~CABIN IN THE WOODS. NIGHT~

Andrew is pouring salt along the window sill. His face is a mess – bruised, bloody, and swollen. Averie walks into the room "How is he?" Andrew asks, "He just needed a little rest, that's all. How are you?" "I'll survive.." he turns to her "Hey, you don't think we were followed here, do you?" "I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, we couldn't have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up." "Hey, uh.... Av, you, um...... you saved my life back there." she nods "So, I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?" 

Andrew sighs "I'm trynna thank you." "You're welcome." Averie says smiling, he walks across the room. "Hey, Andrew?" "Yeah?" "You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there." "You didn't have a choice" "Yeah, I know, that's not what bothers me." she says frowning, he looks at her "Then what does?" "Killing that guy, killing Olivia. I didn't hesitate, I didn't even flinch. For you or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill, it's just, uh .... it scares me sometimes." Andrew looks at her, not knowing what to say. 

Ethan walks into the room "It shouldn't. You did good." Averie looks at him "You're not mad?" "For what?" "Using a bullet?" "Mad? I'm proud of you. You know, Andrew and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you – you watch out for this family. You always have." "Thanks.." The wind suddenly picks up and the lights start to flicker. They all go over to the window "It found us. It's here." Ethan says, "The demon?" Andrew asks scared "Andrew, lines of salt in front of every window, every door."

"I already did." "Well, go check them." "Okay." Andrew rushes out of the room, Ethan turns to Averie "You got the gun?" "Yeah." "Give it to me." she takes the Colt out of her jeans "Dad, we tried to shoot the demon in Salvation. It disappeared." "This is me. I won't miss. Now, the gun, hurry." she looks down and the gun, "Averie, please." She backs away from him "Give me the gun. What are you doing?" "He'd be furious." "What?" "That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn't be proud of me, he'd tear me a new one." 

Ethan just looks at her as Averie raises the gun, pointing it at him and cocking it "You're not my Dad." "Averie, it's me." "I know my Dad better than anyone. And you ain't him." "What the hell's gotten into you?" he asks taking a step forward "I could ask you the same thing. Stay back." Andrew walks in and is shocked to see Averie pointing the gun at Ethan "Averie, What the hell's going on?" "Your sister's lost her mind." she looks over at Andrew "He's not Dad." "What?" "I think he's possessed. I think he's been possessed since we rescued him." she starts tearing up.

"Don't listen to her, Andy." Ethan says, "Averie, how do you know?" "He's...he's different." she says fighting back tears. "You know, we don't have time for this. Andrew, you wanna kill this demon, you've gotta trust me." Andrew looks back and forth between his father and sister. Averie glances at him, but doesn't say anything else to convince him. "No, no." he walks over and stands next to her, "Fine. You're both so sure, go ahead. Kill me." Ethan looks at the ground waiting. Averie holds the gun on him, but can't pull the trigger "I thought so." He looks back up and his eyes are yellow.

Andrew lunges, but is thrown against the wall, pinned there. So is Averie, and she drops the Colt. Ethan picks it up, "What a pain in the ass this thing's been." Andrew looks at him "It's you, isn't it? We've been looking for you for a long time." "Well, you found me." "But the holy water?" "You think something like that works on something like me?" Andrew tries to fight the force that has him pinned to the wall, but fails "I'm gonna kill you!" Ethan chuckles "Oh, that'd be a neat trick. In fact," he puts the Colt on the table "here. Make the gun float to you there, psychic boy." Andrew looks at the gun, nothing happens, "Well, this is fun." he walks over at Averie "I could've killed you a hundred times today, but this......this is worth the wait."

Averie struggles, but stays pinned to the wall, "Your Dad – he's in here with me. Trapped inside his own meat suit. He says "hi", by the way. He's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood." she looks at him "Let him go, or I swear to God –" "What? What are you and God gonna do? You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is justice." he stands in front of her "You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter." "Who, Olivia?" "The one in the alley? That was my boy. You understand." "You've got to be kidding me."

Ethan glares at her "What? You're the only one that can have a family? You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family? Oh, that's right. I forgot. I did. Still, two wrongs don't make a right." "You son of a bitch!" Andrew looks at him "I wanna know why. Why'd you do it?" he turns to Andrew "You mean why did I kill Mommy and pretty, little Hannah?" "Yeah." Ethan looks at Averie "You know, I never told you this, but Andrew was going to ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything." he turns to Andrew "You want to know why? Because they got in the way." "In the way of what?" "My plans for you, Andy. You... and all the children like you." 

Averie groans "Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? Cause I really can't stand the monologue." Ethan chuckles "Funny, but that's all part of your M.O., isn't it? Masks all that nasty pain, masks the truth." "Oh, yeah? What's that?" "You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is they don't need you. Not like you need them. Andrew – he's clearly Ethan's favorite. Even when they fight, it's more concern than he's ever shown you." Averie looks at him holding back tears "I bet you're real proud of your kids, too, huh? Oh wait, I forgot. I wasted 'em." she just smiles at him and Ethan looks at her. He steps back and puts his head down. When he looks back up Averie suddenly yells in pain.

"Averie! No!" Andrew screams, Averie starts to bleed heavily from her chest. Andrew starts to struggle against the force pinning him "Dad! Dad, don't you let it kill me!" she yells at Ethan, he just stands there smiling, she continues screaming in pain. "Averie!" blood is flowing from her at this point, he struggles, trying to break free and starts crying. Blood pours out of her mouth, "Dad, please." she whines before passing out. "Averie! NO!" Andrew shrieks, Ethan whispers "Stop it, Stop it."

Andrew drops to the ground and dives, grabbing the gun off the table. Ethan turns to him, eyes yellow once again, and Andrew aims the gun at him. "You kill me, you kill Daddy." "I know." Andrew fires the gun, shooting him in the leg. He falls down and so does Averie. Andrew gets up and goes to his sister "Av? Averie, hey? Oh God, you've lost a lot of blood." she looks at him weakly "Where's Dad?" "He's right here. He's right here." "Go check on him." "Av.." "Check on him." 

Andrew gets up and goes over to check on Ethan, he is lying motionless on the floor. "Dad? Dad?" he kneels next to him, Ethan opens his eyes "Andy! It's still alive. It's inside me, I can feel it. You shoot me. You shoot me! You shoot me in the heart, son!" he aims the gun at him "Do it now!" Averie looks over "Andrew, don't you do it. Don't you do it!" "You've gotta hurry! I can't hold onto it much longer! You shoot me, son! Shoot me! Son, I'm begging you! We can end this here and now!" "Andrew, no." "You do it! Andy, please!" The demon suddenly leaves Ethan in a black cloud from his mouth. It disappears through the floor. He looks at Andrew accusingly.

~IMPALA~

Andrew is driving with Ethan by his side. Averie is in the back seat. Ethan gasps in pain, Averie is just slumped in the back seat. "Look, just hold on, alright. The hospital's only ten minutes away." Andrew says sighing, "I'm surprised at you, Andy. Why didn't you kill it? I thought we saw eye-to-eye on this? Killing this demon comes first – before me, before everything." Andrew looks in the rearview mirror at Averie "No, sir. Not before everything. Look, we've still got the Colt. We still have the one bullet left. We just have to start over, alright? I mean, we already found the demon...." An eighteen-wheeler suddenly slams into the passenger side of the Impala at full speed, driving it sideways in front of it. The driver's eyes are all black.


End file.
